Abstract: In his Camel Xiangzi, an important work about the struggles and tragedies of the underclass urban civilians in modern society, Lao She portrays characters and narrative scenes, taking advantage of a large number of metaphorical symbols and constructed complex metaphorical meanings to suggest the erotic relationship between characters and the hierarchical order under the influence of social ethics through his writing of eating and drinking scenes and behaviors, as well as the individuals’ torn perception of self-identity, hidden desires, needs and moral degradation through his writing of their illness or pathological behaviors. While making portrayal of characters multi-dimensional, the metaphorical props of the novelist reveals the tragedy caused by the characters’ psychological contradictions and desire entanglements and conveys his sympathy for the degradation of individual lives and wills under the multiple constraints of the dark society and traditional ethics.

Key words: Lao She, Camel Xiangzi, metaphor, eating, illness, space