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.
What topic does the little Chinese seamstress represent though? Jealousy or hope and why? This fight for intellectual liberty relates to the sheepskin coat because the boys are both so desperate for both the books and writing them down somewhere.
ReplyDeleteDo you think the boys' decision to steal Four Eyes' books stemmed from their loathing and anger?
ReplyDeleteI agree with all the focus topics you connected your artifact too, and I think that the feelings that the boys have towards the books and those who kept them from them shows some form of loss. Because they were so deprived of literature and knowledge due to the cultural revolution, they internalize their loss and become deeply hurt and angry over their lack of worldly experiences.
To what extent does the Little Seamstress want to become more "cultured" versus Luo's desire for her to become more civilized?
ReplyDeleteThis shows how their increased intellectual liberty gained in reading the books has affected who all three characters have grown to become throughout the novel. It has exposed them to the lack of individualism and freedom in their society and all of the things that they are missing out on because of the restrictions placed on them by Mao and their re-education.
Do you think that the books could have meant something else if they were not from the Western Culture? For example if they were books from Russia or India would that still be considered Western Culture and how would Luo and the narrator react to reading books from those cultures? I agree with how the books are connected with hope because of how the boys are exposed to a new culture.
ReplyDeleteIs it worth the risk to read the books? They could be severely punished if anyone finds out so do you think they've thought about all they could lose the consequences. I also agree that its a symbol of hope. They keep fighting for something they love an will do anything to get it.
ReplyDeleteI think it's really interesting that you guys choose to talk about how the books related to the Little Seamstress rather than the narrator (I hadn't thought about it that way before), why did you guys choose to talk about her character?
ReplyDeleteThe books symbolize intellectual liberty because they provide the boys and the Little Seamstress liberty to free thought and information. There was a heavy censorship of Western books and ideas at the time, so the books allowed the boys to read more about the Western world.
Why do you think the Little Seamstress has such an influence on Luo's and the narrator's actions?
ReplyDeleteIn addition to hope and intellectual liberty, I also think the books contribute to jealousy. At first, the narrator was very jealous of Luo's storytelling, but after stealing and reading some new books, the narrator was able to surpass Luo's storytelling talent when recounting a story to the tailor.