Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress An overview of the book and political propaganda at the time By Sujatha Changolkar 10-1‚ Liz Heit 10-2‚ and Cristelle Fremont 10-2 Main Characters: The narrator (nameless) He is a seventeen-year-old violin player‚ and once is referred to in the novel as "the fiddler. His name in English translates as‚ “Horse Sword Bell.” In the original version of the book‚ the narrator goes by the name Ma. Luo He is the narrator’s best friend and son of a famous
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valuable to the people than the nationalist regime. However‚ in the novel‚ this concept is as prominent as it can possibly be in the little seamstress. Although she is not necessarily the main character‚ her actions and transformation reflect the power of ideas more than any other character in the book‚ hence giving it the name Balzac and the Little Seamstress. Through her actions‚ she tells the reader that it was thought that provokes such drastic change. The government was not foolish enough to
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In Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress‚ Sijie symbolizes the repression of unique ideas and culture in The Cultural Revolution through Four Eyes’ manipulation of the millers’ songs. In his desperation to escape reeducation‚ Four Eyes strips the traditional ballads of their substance in favor of government propaganda. When the character of Four Eyes is first introduced‚ he is written as being‚ while not particularly benevolent‚ meek and appeasing. The narrator describes him as “liv[ing] in perpetual
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In his book Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress‚ Sijie Dai introduces us to the lives of two young boys who were transported to the village side in order to be “re-educated”. The boys immediately fall in love with the Little Chinese Seamstress‚ however they state that she is too “uncivilized”. We see through the following passage‚ “This fellow Balzac is a wizard. He touched the head of this mountain girl with an invisible finger‚ and she was transformed‚ carried away in a dream. It took a while
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Balzac and The Little Chinese Seamstress What is the ironic result in his success in making the Little Seamstress more Sophisticated? What does this suggest about attempting to change others to ones beliefs or desires? Communism came to power in China in the year 1949 and was dictated by Mao Zedong‚ who later ordered for all educated men and women of China to be reeducated in the countryside. Lou and the narrator were just two of many thousands to be sent off to be reeducated. Lou and the
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Re-education Rewinds Thought In Dai Sijie’s novel Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress‚ re-education remains a prominent theme throughout the course of the story. Children from the city are sent to nearby villages to live life like the common people reverting back to the ways of early civilizations. Very rarely are these kids ever able to return home; if they are lucky and not enemies of the state‚ only then do they have a slight chance. This whole concept represents the sense of communism
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The purpose of almost all novels is to convey a message to the reader‚ to me the novel “Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress” was extraordinarily successful at this. The main character’s name doesn’t appear‚ however‚ I assume it’s the author as it refers to himself by the use of “me”‚ “my” and “I”. Through the two main characters‚ Luo and the author‚ I was able to apprehend their strong connection and how their friendship displayed the strongest loyalty which I felt was extremely significant
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In both the stories “Balzac and the little Chinese Seamstress” by Dai Sijie and the “Colors of the Mountain” by Da Chen reveal‚ that the china’s cultural revolution had a great impact on a lot of people especially young students education. This happened in early 1971‚ it was Mao’s and his communist government who created this Cultural Revolution so that they could control over people. They stopped young student’s education‚ most of them were students who had educated family or owned lands were treated
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history. Beginning with the Egyptians‚ paper was created as a means to record and preserve ideas. Beliefs of different cultures have been conserved and can be found intertwined with texts. As seen in Dai Sijie’s Balzac and The Little Chinese Seamstress‚ illustrations formed through readings can be instilled into the minds of people‚ especially docile youths. Once given a taste‚ knowledge is highly sought after as means of empowerment‚ thus marking the birth of the race for intelligence. Throughout
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Paul Goetze ADV. English 6/7 Mrs. Lawlor 9/19/12 Literary Symbolism for a Rainy Day: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress Poets and authors often use symbolism to convey deeper meanings than what lies on the surface of the text. They use seasons‚ analogies‚ allegories‚ common knowledge and even precipitation to pass along ideas. These symbols either enhance the surface text or lead the reader off into a new way of thinking about something. Various forms of precipitation and the ideas of
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