Vibrant Violin

"Luo started humming a revolutionary tune.  ‘How does that strike you?’ he asked. ‘Charming’ I launched into an accompaniment on my violin.  It was a Tibetan song, which the Chinese had reworded so as to turn it into a glorification of Chairman Mao. But the adaptation had not done too much damage: the song was still uplifting." (17-18)

"Usually I took advantage of the calm reigning on the mountain at this hour to practise my violin, but now it seemed a depressing thing to do. I stepped inside an picked up my instrument, but when I played it the sound was shrill and disagreeable, as if I had forgotten how to play.” (58)

The narrator’s attachment to his violin parallels his nostalgia for his childhood life and brings him hope of leaving the mountain and going back to his old ways. The narrator grows from being sheltered and insecure to independent and capable of making his own choices.

The first passage shows the narrator’s dependance on the violin, using it as a sense of comfort as he is initially put into re-education. It represents his childhood, as it reminds him of his intellectual life, and he plays it to reminisce about his past. He also mentions that he is hopeful that he will be able to go back to his old life by being one of the "three in a thousand" that leaves because of talent.

The second quote shows that what comforted him in the past is now not as appealing as it was before. As the narrator is surrounded by the unfamiliar during his re-education, he discovers that going back to his past through the violin no longer brings him the same relief.  As he comes of age, he needs to adapt to his surroundings and become more self-reliant.

All in all, the violin represents the narrator's new found maturity and how he is hopeful of leaving the mountain and going back to his childhood ways.

Four-Eyes, Through His Lenses

The glasses are used throughout the story to represent the key personality traits of Four-Eyes,
specifically his beguiling tendencies and reliance on his privilege and others. The glasses show the juvenile nature of Four-Eyes’ character, particularly in relation to the other characters as they come of age. Four-Eyes chooses to behave in ways that are immature and disrespectful to others, as long as it helps him get ahead, This consistently angers the protagonists, as they have learned and matured to generally do what is better for the common good. When Four-Eyes is forced to go to work without his glasses, the narrator describes, “ Without his spectacles his goggle eyes reminded me of the dull, dazed look of a Pekinese dog. He seemed quite lost and stricken, even before he had hoisted the hod of rice onto his back” (53). This symbolizes that Four Eyes’ glasses are a privilege that he has, which makes him seemingly superior to other characters and gives him opprtunities that others don’t have. However, when he is forced to do without them, he loses this privilege and must somehow get by without them, just like everyone else in the village. Problematically, the lack of this privilege makes it so that he is unable to work effectively, as he “knocks against a rock [and] causes the contents [of his basket] to spill out.

The Red Reaper Raven

The Red Reaper Raven 

"The Little Seamstress's hair wasn't tied back into her usual long, thick pigtail, and as she ran, her hair floated out over her shoulders like wings. I scanned the mountainside for the red-beaked rave, and when my eyes returned to my friends, the Little Seamstress had vanished" (116-117). 

Sijie uses the symbol of the red beaked raven to portray impending doom and to foreshadow the threat of the Little Seamstress. The red beaked raven appears when the narrator and Luo are heading towards the Little Seamstress's home, and the narrator takes notice to this, while Luo completely ignores this. The narrator also has a dream where he sees the raven flying across the mountain heralding the death of the Little Seamstress in his dream. The correlation of the appearance of the raven with the Little Seamstress in both real life and in his dream add a prescient credence to the dreams. The writer makes a connection between the Little Seamstress and the raven as one. For instance, in the novel, the Little Seamstress's hair is compared to the wings of the raven. This foreshadows what may happen in the future of the Little Seamstress. Since the Seamstress is described as the ravel and the raven is a symbol of doom, something that ties to the theme of loss may occur later in story. The raven connects to loss through the threat of something happening to the Seamstress. 

"He was in a hurry and I almost felt jealous of his assignation with the doom-laden red-beaked raven" (118).

Despite the threat of the raven's mark, the narrator is still jealous of Luo and his destiny and position with the Seamstress and the opportunity to have an impact on her fate. The red raven represents a possible threat to the Little Seamstress. Due to Luo's closeness to the Seamstress, the narrator feels that he has an a big hand in her destiny, which he covets. He desires to be important in the Seamstress's story, despite the risks that may come with it. This shows that the narrator more so values the idea of being influential, rather than being safe. It also shows that he wishes to steal the spotlight from Luo, although he tries to curb these emotions towards Luo. 

Hope Within the Creases of a Sheepskin Coat

Item - Narrator’s Sheepskin Coat

Topic - Hope

Two key quotes:

“Writing on the skin of an old mountain sheep was not easy: the surface was rough and creased and, in order to squeeze as much text as possible into the available space, I had to use a minute script, which required all the concentration I could muster. By the time I had covered the entire inside of the jacket, including the sleeves, my fingers were aching so badly it felt as if the bones were broken” (58).

“‘When she’d finished reading she sat there quite still, open-mouthed. Your coat was resting on the flat of her hands, the way a sacred object lies in the palms of the pious….[Balzac] touched the head of this mountain girl with an invisible finger, and she was transformed, carried away in a dream. It took a while for her to come down to earth… She said having Balzac’s words next to her skin made her feel good, and also more intelligent’” (62).

Thesis Statement - Sijie uses the symbol of the narrator’s sheepskin coat to illustrate how the power of literature can instill hope, even in the most dire of times. 

Moved by Balzac’s writing, the narrator goes to great lengths to inscribe the literature within his threadbare coat. His worn sheepskin coat, a representation of the poverty and hardships of re-education, becomes a sacred symbol of hope with Balzac’s words. The literature is able to empower and touch the minds of two once pessimistic teenage boys and the Little Seamstress, a simple uncultured mountain girl. 

The sheepskin coat also draws parallels with the symbolic representation of the movies being displayed in the town. Similar to how Luo and the narrator become filled with hope after reading the Western literature, the villagers become hopeful when they hear about the movies from the town. This demonstrates how stories and media can provide hope for a better future.

Rise and Rebel: The Symbolism of the Alarm Clock

by Aaron, Brooke, Diana, & Elana

Courage

Quotes:

• drinking the blood of the buffalo
• “When he had finished he sucked his fingers one by one, to make sure not a drop was wasted. As he made his way up the steep incline I noted he was still smacking his lips to prolong the taste”(93).
• Meaning: Four-Eyes drinking the buffalo blood is a symbol of his own duality. He tries to be pro-revolutionary but in doing so violates several of the key pillars of the revolution. So, he tries to muster as much courage is possible - that is shown in this quote.

• Four Eyes puts the buffalo tail on the suitcase
• “It was only after an hour’s headlong flight along the mountain path that we finally dared to stop. Luo opened the suitcase. On top of the meat stacked books lay the buffalo tail: black, with a tufted end, and stained with dark blood”(105).
• Meaning: The buffalo’s tail is a reminder of when Four Eyes drank the buffalo blood which was supposed to make him more courageous.

Thesis Statement:

In his novel, Sijie uses the death of the buffalo in order to emphasize that Four-Eyes has a two-sided personality. In order to display his courageousness, Four-Eyes broke killed the buffalo and willingly drank its blood. By licking his fingers, he demonstrated that he did not have any doubts about killing the buffalo. After the event, Four-Eyes kept the buffalo’s tail as a reminder of his courageous act. This reflects coming of age because Four-Eyes demonstrates that he is mature and unafraid of drinking the blood of a buffalo. This also connects to his two-faced personality because he is showing that he is brave, but later throws up because he can’t stand the blood of the buffalo.

Freedom of the Buffalo

Freedom of the Buffalo

In the novel, Dai Sijie uses the symbol of the buffalo’s death to illustrate a turning point in the dominion of Mao, showing the weakening of Mao’s influence over the peasant community. This shows these intellectuals’ are finally breaking free from Mao’s strict rules which constrain them to little or no freedom. After the narrator reads more of Four-Eye’s books, he realizes how much he has missed out on his education because of Mao. He begins to believe that an individual can stand up for themselves, even in a suppressed society, giving more power to contradict Mao’s ideals. The village headman, by covering up the buffalo’s forbidden death as an “accident”, shows the village headman’s ability to rebel against their leader. Thus, there is a glimmer of hope for the intellectuals that the peasants, in going against Mao’s suppressive government, may have a chance of breaking free and having the power to stand up on their own, as shown by the buffalo. This symbol is related to when the narrator and Luo feverishly read the banned books from Four-Eyes. Stealing the books from Four-Eyes and reading them represent the hope for going against Mao’s principles and laws, similar to the village headman purposely disregarding Mao by killing the buffalo. Overall in the novel, an overarching theme of hope becomes transparent through the author’s choice of symbolism, such as the buffalo.

We are able to see this first when the narrator talks about his confusion about how the killing of the buffalo will happen due to it being illegal. He recalls, “There was some confusion about which buffalo would be killed and in what manner, because it was against the law to slaughter working animals that were used in the fields” (90). From this quote, we are able to see that it is against the law to kill a buffalo. They are aware that it illegal to kill a buffalo, but still try to do it anyways for their own satisfaction. The villagers' decision to kill the buffalo anyways shows that they are starting to rebel against Mao's rules.

We also see the overarching theme of hope through the buffalo when the narrator is describing the slaughter of the buffalo. He describes, “The slaughter was disguised as an accident; the perpetrator [Headmaster] claimed that the beast had lost its footing on a tight bend and had plunged headfirst down the cliff” (93). As we see, the narrator's account shows a direct symbol of rebellion against Mao. Despite the fact that it is illegal, the peasants still kill the buffalo and try to disguise it. This is highly unusual, as the peasants think of Mao as a god and would likely never go against his rules. However, here they do, which shows that Mao is potentially losing his influence in the peasant community. Additionally, it shows how the hope for freedom against is gaining, as now even the peasants are going against his laws.

This image here represents the chain controlling the peasants' actions is breaking, as they are going against the law and the wishes of Mao. The breaking of the chain shows that these peasants have more freedom to do what they want without something dragging them down. The chain in this situation is Mao and his strict rules that take away people's basic rights and freedoms.

Overall, the hope for gaining freedom is rising while Mao is losing his grip on the peasants, as they are killing the buffalo which is against the law and something Mao would not want to happen.

Liberty, Loathing, Literature

1. “Me too. [I feel] loathing for everyone who kept these books from us. (Sijie 99).”

2. “‘About those books of his--what if we stole them? (Sijie 89).’”

Through the symbolism of books, Sijie illustrates the value of intellectual liberty and the measures one will take to obtain and preserve it. Throughout the novel, the books also serve as a symbol of hope to the narrator and Luo. The books are slivers of the Westernized culture that the boys yearn for and the intellectual liberty they crave. They are denied the right to read books due to Mao’s stringent regime. Books also cause the boys jealousy, making them resort to extreme measures. When Four-eyes is about to leave the re-education camp, the boys are so distraught at the thought of losing the last books available to them, so they decide to break in. Growing up, the boys were refused the right to read Western literature and now that they know what they missed, they start to resent Mao. These aspects of jealousy, hope, and intellectual liberty can also be conveyed through the symbol of literature with the Little Seamstress’s character. The Little Seamstress adds to the developing idea in the books, because of her determination to preserve the literature in hopes of becoming more “cultured” than the average, mountain peasant girl. She also becomes jealous of the books that Four Eyes has and as a result of this she pushes the narrator and Luo to steal them. These examples both push her to go against the way of Mao, in order to achieve her vision of reading and writing like an intellectual.

The Trove of Intellectual Liberty fixed

The suitcase belonging to Four-Eyes embodies the state of intellectual liberty in China in multiple ways. For one, it’s status of being locked and stored away in secrecy is similar to how intellectualism is being persecuted in China and those who wish to gain knowledge must do it in secrecy during the Cultural Revolution. But when it is opened and explored, the people who discover the books are able to access a vast wealth of knowledge completely unknown to them before, just as when the narrator and Luo recount their memories of the bad Asian film to the villagers and the villagers are amazed at how such great and interesting media can exist.

The first example of this is when the narrator states, “We crept up to the suitcase… Inside, piles of books shone in the light of our torch: a company of great Western writers welcomed us with open arms… Brushing them with the tips of my fingers made me feel as if my pale hands were in touch with human lives” (99). Before being exposed to these books, the narrator and Luo lived a very monotonous life. They entertained themselves with nothing more than the few natural talents they had, such as playing the violin and telling stories from the same films on propaganda. However, when they opened the suitcase, it felt as if they were coming “in touch with human lives.” This shows how impactful these books are to the teen boys because they’d only been exposed to Maoist propaganda and when they came in touch with these “human lives”, it was unlike anything they’d seen before. The readers see later in the story that these same books will also begin to change the Little Chinese Seamstress and expand her worldview. In a way, the knowledge provided by these books helps each character gain confidence in themselves and opens their once-suppressed imagination. Educated by various characters, authors, and meanings of the book, the narrator, Luo, and the Little Chinese Seamstress are able to become more inspired and mature.

It is also incredibly dangerous for anyone to own the books that were stored away because they could be punished for reading or just having possession of them, just like how people were punished for learning or having been taught in the past during the Revolution. For example, when Luo accuses Four-Eyes of locking his books up, Four-Eyes becomes terrified and tries to deflect the attention. “Luo broke the silence. ‘I expect they’re books,’ he said. ‘The way you keep your suitcase locked up and hidden away is enough to betray your secret: you’ve got a stash of forbidden books’”(49). Four-Eyes had to keep his books “locked up and hidden away” at all times, lest he be caught having them; evidently, there were severe consequences to owning books or else he wouldn’t be so afraid. The quote continues, “A flicker of panic showed in our short-sighted friend’s eyes, then vanished behind his glasses as he composed his features into a smiling mask. ‘You must be dreaming,’ he said. He reached out to touch Luo’s forehead. ‘Good god, such a fever! That’s what’s giving you these crazy ideas, it's making you delirious. Listen, we’re all friends, we have some good times together, which is fine, but if you go on about such rubbish as forbidden books, heck it, then…’” (49). This shows the paranoia that people would have when they had books because it was incredibly risky to even be suspected of owning them. By covering up his panic and faking his smile, it becomes certain that he has the books. Moreover, when he starts rambling on about how Luo must be delirious and how they can’t be friends anymore if Luo continues suspecting him of owning books, it shows his desperation to stop the accusation and discredit it before someone overhears.

The suitcase represents lack of intellectual liberty and how the powers and Mao’s rules during the Cultural Revolution didn’t completely abolish books, therefore creating potentially dangerous consequences.

The Drive For Knowledge

Quotes:

- “The short coat, a gift from the villagers when I arrived, was made of skins with wool or varying lengths and textures on the outside and bare hide on the inside. It was hard to find suitable passages in the book, as the limited space afforded by my coat was further reduced by areas where the leather was too cracked to be of use” (Sijie 58).

- “I decided I would write directly onto the inside of my sheepskin coat […] writing on the skin of an old mountain sheep was not easy: the surface was rough and creased and, in order to squeeze as much text as possible into the available space, I had to use a minute script, which required all the entire inside of the jacket, including the sleeves, my fingers were aching so badly it felt as if the bones were broken” (Sijie 59).

Images:

Analysis:
Sijie uses the symbol of the narrator’s sheepskin coat to illustrate the narrator’s desperation for intellectual liberty. The sheepskin coat is a representation of the desperation and lengths the boys are willing to go to to reach intellectual liberty. Once the narrator gets his hands on one of Four-Eye’s books, his obsession with the text becomes so unbearable that he has to find a way to copy it down for future reference. The move is extremely risky, but the narrator puts his love for the writing above the risk of losing his own liberty. The intellectual liberty demonstrated through the sheepskin coat is also symbolized in Four Eyes’s mother’s practice of composing poems in her head while she knits. Both the narrator and Four Eyes’ mother are hiding their intellectual liberty of Western literature in inconspicuous places. The hidden poems add to the demonstration of desperation and desire for intellectual freedom under Mao’s strict rule.

The Trove of Intellectual Liberty

The suitcase belonging to Four-Eyes embodies the state of intellectual liberty in China in multiple ways. For one, it’s status of being locked and stored away in secrecy is similar to how intellectualism is being persecuted in China and those who wish to gain knowledge must do it in secrecy during the Cultural Revolution. But when it is opened and explored, the people who discover the books are able to access a vast wealth of knowledge completely unknown to them before, just as when the narrator and Luo recount their memories of the bad Asian film to the villagers and the villagers are amazed at how such great and interesting media can exist.

The first example of this is when the narrator states, “We crept up to the suitcase… Inside, piles of books shone in the light of our torch: a company of great Western writers welcomed us with open arms… Brushing them with the tips of my fingers made me feel as if my pale hands were in touch with human lives” (99). Before being exposed to these books, the narrator and Luo lived a very monotonous life. They entertained themselves with nothing more than the few natural talents they had, such as playing the violin and telling stories from the same films on propaganda. However, when they opened the suitcase, it felt as if they were coming “in touch with human lives.” This shows how impactful these books are to the teen boys because they’d only been exposed to Maoist propaganda and when they came in touch with these “human lives”, it was unlike anything they’d seen before. The readers see later in the story that these same books will also begin to change the Little Chinese Seamstress and expand her worldview. In a way, the knowledge provided by these books helps each character gain confidence in themselves and opens their once-suppressed imagination. Educated by various characters, authors, and meanings of the book, the narrator, Luo, and the Little Chinese Seamstress are able to become more inspired and mature.

It is also incredibly dangerous for anyone to own the books that were stored away because they could be punished for reading or just having possession of them, just like how people were punished for learning or having been taught in the past during the Revolution. For example, when Luo accuses Four-Eyes of locking his books up, Four-Eyes becomes terrified and tries to deflect the attention. “Luo broke the silence. ‘I expect they’re books,’ he said. ‘The way you keep your suitcase locked up and hidden away is enough to betray your secret: you’ve got a stash of forbidden books’”(49). Four-Eyes had to keep his books “locked up and hidden away” at all times, lest he be caught having them; evidently, there were severe consequences to owning books or else he wouldn’t be so afraid. The quote continues, “A flicker of panic showed in our short-sighted friend’s eyes, then vanished behind his glasses as he composed his features into a smiling mask. ‘You must be dreaming,’ he said. He reached out to touch Luo’s forehead. ‘Good god, such a fever! That’s what’s giving you these crazy ideas, it's making you delirious. Listen, we’re all friends, we have some good times together, which is fine, but if you go on about such rubbish as forbidden books, heck it, then…’” (49). This shows the paranoia that people would have when they had books because it was incredibly risky to even be suspected of owning them. By covering up his panic and faking his smile, it becomes certain that he has the books. Moreover, when he starts rambling on about how Luo must be delirious and how they can’t be friends anymore if Luo continues suspecting him of owning books, it shows his desperation to stop the accusation and discredit it before someone overhears.

The suitcase represents lack of intellectual liberty and how the powers and Mao’s rules during the Cultural Revolution didn’t completely abolish books, therefore creating potentially dangerous consequences.

Leverage of the Rooster

The Leverage of the Rooster

“We got into the habit of re-adjusting the time on the alarm clock. It all depended on how we were

feeling, physically and mentally. Sometimes, instead of turning the clock back we would put it

forward by an hour or two, so as to finish the day’s work early.” (15)

“The least sign of slackness was enough to incense him at this time, so for a while Luo and I set

off dutifully each morning to work in the fields. We didn’t even risk changing the time on our

little magic alarm clock.” (120)

“We were surprised to see how the alarm clock seized the imagination of the peasants. It became

an object of veneration, almost. Everyone came to consult the clock, as though our house on stilts

were a temple.” (14)

Sijie uses the symbol of the rooster alarm clock to demonstrate the power that the boys
have over the village. This symbol connects to the essay topic of hope because when they
manipulate the time, Luo and the narrator still have hope that they will be able to leave the
Phoenix of the Sky. This small degree of control gave them respite from the harsh conditions of
the mountain. As they stop using the clock to their advantage, they start losing their hope as they
give up most of the little control that they have over their lives. The large difference between the
lifestyles of the peasantry and city people is shown by the peasants’ fascination of a relatively
simple and common technology.  

Cinematic Experience

Quotes:

1. “A propaganda film like any other…. The audience would always weep at this moment regardless of whether they were watching the film or listening to our version of it” (Sijie, 39)
2. “Phoenix mountain was so remote from civilization that most of the inhabitants had never had the opportunity of seeing a film, let alone visit a cinema. There had been a few occasions when Luo and I entertained the headman with stories of films we had seen, and he was eager to see more.” (18-19)

Image:

Connection to Theme:

Sijie uses the symbol of movies to emphasize how narratives can influence and be formative in people’s lives, shaping their beliefs in the form of intellectual liberty. In the first quote, it talks about how movies were a form of propaganda. As a result, they intentionally had morals that were meant to be manipulative, making the audience feel a certain way. By making movies revolutionary, or by making them about Mao, the people would conform more to that narrative, until it became not just a movie, but a reality for them. The potency of the movie is such that, on a mass level, it can get people to follow whatever ideas are presented, often in the form of supporting the Cultural Revolution. People “would always weep” because the movie was engineered that way. Since many of the peasants were uneducated, and since they had never seen movies, they were not exposed to the narratives other people were. Consequently, they lived their own lives without the major influence of Mao. But through Luo and the narrator, they are exposed to new influences, more informative ones.

Connection to Book:

This idea of narratives influencing people's’ lives is shown through the clothes that the villagers wore. This occurred due to Ma telling the tailor about a story where the hero was a French sailor. The tailor was influenced by this story and began putting French designs similar to the story in the clothing he made. Thus, we can see how the story shaped the types of clothing that the tailor-made, and people began to wear new kinds of clothing. Considering the clothing had a lot of Western influence it limited Mao’s influence over the villagers.

eyes wide open

eyes wide open

Intertwine the world with yourself

Let the flow of the waves roll you over

And you will never hit the rocky shore

If you listen to the whispers of the trees

If you let your mind fly like a bird

If you open your heart to the world

You will see life with raw eyes

You will gain a vision of appreciation

Or maybe a vision of disturbance

Let the calm air of nature allow you to be free

Let it rejuvenate and reset your mind

Take in a cool, blissful breeze and let it dissolve into your lungs

Awareness is a word of gold

It gives understanding

And receives importance

The Choice

There are two paths you can take

Both paved,

And beautiful

You stand in front of both

They are captivating

Which one will you take?

Murmurs and voices are yelled

Telling you to take one path

“This is what you need”

“This is the easy way out”

Judges and glares are exchanged

The next path is extremely difficult and dangerous

But its exquisite,

Filled with exotic flowers and fruits

This one is calling you

Your heart is urging you to follow

Smell the air,

The flowers,

Taste the fruit

Which one will you take?

Happiness and difficulty,

Or the struggle of not fitting in,

To the small path society is telling you to follow?

Close

We strive for happiness,

running as fast as we can to get there.

Sprinting and sprinting,

running in circles.

Not succeeding to find it.

Yet happiness is not as far as it is deceived.

It is close to our hearts.

Close to our soul.

It is within the oceans of our eyes.

It is within the fire of our hearts.

It is within the melody of our minds.

If you become one with our Mother,

one with yourself,

Taoism will take your hand and show you the way,

to happiness,

to peace with yourself.

And you’ll realize that happiness,

that the Tao,

was right behind you the whole time.