莫言在《晚熟的人》小说集中回归故乡叙事并刻画了一系列具有“晚熟”特征的人物。这种“晚熟”主要体现在人成长过程中心智发育成熟的时机较晚，以及人精神世界对自我与社会关系的认知较深，小说中“早熟者”与“晚熟者”在不同时代阶段的矛盾冲突也会呈现出强势与弱势群体的划分。莫言笔下的这些人事以故乡作为背景，在革命语境、改革语境和当代语境的三层叙事中各自呈现出不同的时代特性，人与故乡的关系也表现出“紧密-割裂-回归”的变化过程。莫言通过描写人的“晚熟”以及人与故乡的关系变化，阐发出对故乡伦理道德参与秩序建构的思考，探讨苦难下人的主体性如何生成，表达出对人的生命关怀。

In Mo Yan's short story collection "A Late Bloomer," he returns to the narrative of his homeland and portrays a series of characters with the "late bloomer" trait. This "late bloomer" trait mainly manifests in the delayed development of mental maturity during a person's growth process, as well as the deeper cognitive recognition of the self and social relationships in a person's spiritual world. In the novel, the conflicts between "early bloomers" and "late bloomers" at different stages in history will also present a division between strong and weak groups. Mo Yan's characters are set against the background of their homeland, presenting different characteristics of their time in the three narrative layers of revolutionary context, reform context, and contemporary context. The relationship between people and their homeland also shows a process of "close connection-separation-return." Through the portrayal of the characters' "late bloomer" traits and the changes in their relationship with their homeland, Mo Yan explores his thoughts on the ethical and moral order construction of the homeland, how subjectivity is generated under suffering, and expresses his care for human life.