Tip of the iceberg Raised in an environment where importance was placed on being forthright, Cheng always provides foreshadowing of despicable characters by way of some sort of incident in their pasts. That's not to make excuses for them, but to point out the innate frailty of human nature.
冰山式寫作從小成長於以「忠厚人」為尚的環境中，讓鄭清文在描繪讓人恨得牙癢癢的人物時，會在他們的成長背景或經歷的事件中留下伏筆，不是為他們的罪行說項，而是點出人性的脆弱。