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.
a. In what other ways are their desperations for intellectual liberty expressed?
ReplyDeleteb. The narrator is also so afraid of losing the passages that they have been lent that he copies it down. He doesn't want the intellectual liberty they've been granted to become loss so he goes to any measure to preserve it.
I love how you incorporated the biggest idea, intellectual liberty, thoroughly through out the passage as it was probably the biggest connection. I also think that hope can be tied into that topic as well, because the narrator is writing these passages down, and Four-Eyes's mother is composing poetry in her head, in the hopes that one day they would finally be able to freely use them; rid of Mao's strict rule and the Cultural Revolution. You also mention two quotes relating to the making of the Sheepskin coat by the narrator's hand, and his drive to write the passages from the book down. Why is it there is no mention of the scene where Luo is giving the Little Seamstress the sheepskin coat? I think you could've derived a lot of examples and analysis to further your point, but the overall message is very good in itself.
ReplyDeleteI think it is really important to note how desperate these boys are for seeking knowledge, that they even go to great lengths to steal a suitcase of books. I think it is important that even though they live in the peasant village and they are being "re-educated", to fit the needs of Mao, they are still able to get their hands on books and educate themselves.
ReplyDeleteWhat other themes can the sheepskin coat be connected to?
ReplyDeleteAfter the boys' discovered the forbidden literature, they are entranced by the wonders of the foreign worlds demonstrated in the novels. The power of literature allows them to have greater intellectual liberty than they had before. Intellectual freedom becomes extremely important to them, and they become desperate, as seen in the symbol of the sheepskin coat. They begin to prioritize seeking and retaining knowledge over their own safety and survival.
Could coping the story onto the fur coat also represents hope?
ReplyDeleteThe boys could continue reading, therefore exercising intellectual liberty despite living during the Mao regime where doing so is strictly forbidden. This act could also reveal coming of age because they developed a hunger for knowledge, and realized that they were willing to risk there lives to continue reading.