Balzac And The Little Chinese Seamstress
In Dai Sijie’s novel, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, is a tale about the love for reading and the thought of romance of two city boys. This story takes place in China during the cultural Revolution and uncovers how the theme of “reeducation” effects the characters throughout the novel. One main topic throughout the novel is the “reeducation” of many characters of that community. The theme of reeducation in the story helps the narrator’s and Luo’s adulthood through the reading of books, importance of storytelling, and accepting their culture. This topic is connected to our LA 100 themes of the importance of individual identity, pursuit of knowledge, lifelong learning, and community.
The narrator’s and Luo’s maturity in adulthood
changes from the reading of books, because they take different paths in experiencing and learning new ideas. This enhances lifelong learning and pursuit of knowledge. Throughout the narrator’s and Luo’s time on the mountain they get more educated and mature emotionally. The narrator, for example, grows romantically from reading Four-Eye’s books. In his reading of these books, he grows in lust and fantasies that lead to liking the Little Seamstress. When the narrator is watching out for the Little Seamstress for Luo, he says, “I pictured myself at the head of a routed army, charged with escorting the young wife of my bosom friend, the commander in chief, across a vast, black desert” (Dai Sijie 148). The narrator develops deep romantic feelings. In reading, the narrator gains knowledge for life experience that he will forever hold on to. In the books he read there were a lot of personal stories. This help him come to know himself more. Luo, however changed from his time being with the Little Seamstress, and the connection they have from reading books together. This connects to LA 100 because the goal of this class is to help us get in the comfort zone of experiencing and learning new ideas. Doing experiential learning points helps us to engage, and find ourselves within our college campus.
The importance of storytelling is significant through the novel, because it connects with the theme of individual identity. Throughout the book, Luo reads Balzac to the Little Seamstress. He tries to get her to understand the city life and to become more fashionable. The reading of Balzac does affect her future choices near the end of the novel. The Little Chinese Seamstress wants to explore the new “city” world for herself. She changes the way she looks. She cuts her hair, get new shoes, and cuts her jacket to look more modern. In the end of the novel, the Little Seamstress explains what she learned the most from Balzac to Luo saying, “that a woman’s beauty is a treasure beyond price” (Dai Sijie 184). By the Little Seamstress saying this, she gain more knowledge from the books than the narrator and Luo did. She is brave enough to be different and change her life from the readings of Balzac. The Seamstress gains her individual identity because she discovered her self worth. She also learned the use of her own potential and what she is capable of doing.
The narrator’s and Luo’s maturity in adulthood
changes from the reading of books, because they take different paths in experiencing and learning new ideas. This enhances lifelong learning and pursuit of knowledge. Throughout the narrator’s and Luo’s time on the mountain they get more educated and mature emotionally. The narrator, for example, grows romantically from reading Four-Eye’s books. In his reading of these books, he grows in lust and fantasies that lead to liking the Little Seamstress. When the narrator is watching out for the Little Seamstress for Luo, he says, “I pictured myself at the head of a routed army, charged with escorting the young wife of my bosom friend, the commander in chief, across a vast, black desert” (Dai Sijie 148). The narrator develops deep romantic feelings. In reading, the narrator gains knowledge for life experience that he will forever hold on to. In the books he read there were a lot of personal stories. This help him come to know himself more. Luo, however changed from his time being with the Little Seamstress, and the connection they have from reading books together. This connects to LA 100 because the goal of this class is to help us get in the comfort zone of experiencing and learning new ideas. Doing experiential learning points helps us to engage, and find ourselves within our college campus.
The importance of storytelling is significant through the novel, because it connects with the theme of individual identity. Throughout the book, Luo reads Balzac to the Little Seamstress. He tries to get her to understand the city life and to become more fashionable. The reading of Balzac does affect her future choices near the end of the novel. The Little Chinese Seamstress wants to explore the new “city” world for herself. She changes the way she looks. She cuts her hair, get new shoes, and cuts her jacket to look more modern. In the end of the novel, the Little Seamstress explains what she learned the most from Balzac to Luo saying, “that a woman’s beauty is a treasure beyond price” (Dai Sijie 184). By the Little Seamstress saying this, she gain more knowledge from the books than the narrator and Luo did. She is brave enough to be different and change her life from the readings of Balzac. The Seamstress gains her individual identity because she discovered her self worth. She also learned the use of her own potential and what she is capable of doing.