Balzac And The Little Chinese Seamstress Analysis

Luo decides to undertake the project of educating the Little Seamstress by reading books by western authors to her in hopes that she will learn from the characters in the stories and try to adopt their civilized ways. The Little seamstress forms a connection with the books almost instantaneously from her first exposure to Western Literature. According to Luo, “after I had read the passage from Balzac to her word for word...she took your coat and reread the whole thing, in silence. 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” (Sijie 62). The is astounded by the wise words of Balzac and it is and eye opening experience for her. Through Sieves diction in this passage, the word “pious” also indicated that reading books is also a sacred or spiritual experience for the Little Seamstress. This moment is one of the most significant in the whole text, because it makes the beginning of the Seamstress's Transformation, by showing the great effect that literature has on her. From the Little Seamstress’

Stories give people new ideas and experiences along with lessons that they are unable to realize in their own lives. The narrator feels as though he is in the land of Balzac’s Ursule Mirouёt even though he has never before seen France. He is so fascinated with the story that he does not put the book down until he has finished the last page (Sijie 57). This allows him to experience life in an entirely different manner from which he is accustomed. From these stories, the boys gain insights into thoughts and emotions that are completely foreign to them. While Luo visits the Little Seamstress telling her of the stories he as read, the narrator feels one of these unfamiliar emotions. He states, “Suddenly I felt a stab of jealousy, a bitter wrenching emotion I had never felt before” (58). Although jealousy is not usually seen as a good feature and while this emotional awakening may seem like a negative effect of storytelling to some readers, it is actually an amazing accomplishment. Stories provide their readers with a new perception of life. They are able to feel what they have never felt, to see what they have never seen, and to be what they have never been. While these experiences may not be the most enjoyable, all experiences leave people with a more extensive idea of what life really is.

The protagonist, Shinji, in The Sound of Waves can be contrasted to the protagonist, the narrator, in Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. Shinji found a girl, Hatsue, which he loved, and pursued to go after her even when it was forbidden by her father. On the other hand, the narrator loved the Little Seamstress, but didn’t go after her because his best friend, Luo, already had a growing relationship with her. Since Shinji was determined to win Hatsue’s heart, he went after her. This action of

The shocked and flabbergasted diction of this section lends itself to a similar purpose. The surprise that the narrator shows when Luo initially begins the procedure is indicative to the fear within the protagonists and the absurdity of the situation as a whole. When the narrator says: “what the devil had got into him?” (Sijie 142) it shows the reader that the strangeness of the scene had not escaped the notice of those involved. The befuddled diction continues when the narrator says: “even today it confounds me” (Sijie 142) showing that the situation his oddness was not reduced with time. Overall, this section sets the scene for an intense and decisively odd situation.

Lou lost the Little Seamstress to individualism and her wanting to have free will. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress suggests that we as people evolve in our lives. We learn thing about ourselves and change our perspectives based off of our experiences. One of the major themes in this novel is that you cannot dominate people completely and try to force people to do things then you are in the place of power. The human imagination cannot be restricted and put into a box called communism. The Little Seamstress realized that Luo was trying to control her like the government authorities of China was trying to do to their people towards the end of the book when she says told Luo that “she had learnt one thing from Balzac: that a woman’s beauty is a treasure beyond price” (184). People are going to want to live as individuals freely and find a way to escape the rules. The topic of not being able to fully dominate and control people is a topic that is still relevant to today’s

The poem’s structure as a sonnet allows the speaker’s feelings of distrust and heartache to gradually manifest themselves as the poem’s plot progresses. Each quatrain develops and intensifies the speaker’s misery, giving the reader a deeper insight into his convoluted emotions. In the first quatrain, the speaker advises his former partner to not be surprised when she “see[s] him holding [his] louring head so low” (2). His refusal to look at her not only highlights his unhappiness but also establishes the gloomy tone of the poem. The speaker then uses the second and third quatrains to justify his remoteness; he explains how he feels betrayed by her and reveals how his distrust has led him

Luo and the narrator’s extreme ideals of women, constructed through Balzac’s depiction of women and China’s cultural influences, deprives their judgement of the Little Seamstress’s capability of fostering her intellectual growth beyond their intentions. In the novel, the Little Seamstress describes a scene she acted out with Luo from “The Count of Monte Cristo”: “It was totally a new experience for me. Before, I had no idea that you could take on a role of a completely different person, actually become that person—a rich lady, for example and still be yourself.” (Sijie, 156). This is a moment where the Little Seamstress realizes her potential to transform her rustic life. She finally stuns her competence to Luo and the narrator when they learn that she has gleaned a much different lesson from Balzac than they had intended: “a woman’s beauty is a treasure beyond price” (Sijie, 197). The Little Seamstress is profoundly influenced by Balzac’s literature and learns a valuable possession she has in her hands and decides to use it to her

Luvenia loses her job over a lie she was involved in. John Deets informs, “Your services will no longer be required” (188). This proves Luvenia got fired. The reasoning behind her losing her job is Florenz, Mr.Deets daughter. Florenz included Luvenia in a lie so Florenz could drive her father’s car and that is how Luvenia lost her job. Luvenia describes, “The crushing feeling seemed to rise from her knees, careen through her trembling body, and settle heavily in Luvenia’s chest” (189). This presents how much getting fired affected Luvenia. As a result, Luvenia may also lose her opportunity to attend college because of this

Even though Luo has found the Seamstress on the mountain, Luo still wants to leave it. Him throwing his keys into the pool is a metaphor for himself being on the mountain, he feels as though he was thrown “into the depths,” never to be reunited with his family again. This shows that while he has accepted that he may never see his family again he is still upset by it, although he isn’t at all comforted that he still has the Seamstress, a fact that never seems to cross his mind at this point. The negative diction used, such as “plunged,” “despair,” and “envied,” provide us with insight as to how hopeless Luo really feels about being there. If Luo’s feelings for the Seamstress were as genuine as he believed them to be, the idea of staying on the mountain wouldn’t fill him with something as extreme as despair, or even envy towards another creature, such as the tortoise. Luo also wonders to himself “‘Who will ever release me from this mountain?’” He wants to leave the mountain, even though he has found someone that he “loves” dearly. The Seamstress doesn’t seem to pop up in his mind as a reason for him to stay at all. Luo instead only seems to focus on leaving, and never coming back. This selection of detail reveals to us that the feelings that Luo has towards the Seamstress are in fact fueled by a self-fulfilling desire to be less alone while being on the mountain, rather than them being genuine.

The tailor finds another way to escape the controlling grip of Mao. On his customary tour of the villages before the New Year, the tailor decides to stay with Luo and the narrator while working in their village. The two are baffled upon the

As the story opens up, Silko makes it a point for the reader to realize the

Through the Seamstress’ time with Luo at the lake, she expresses her individuality therefore building on her character. Repetition of “you’re” such as “I know what you’re getting at…” shows the Seamstress’ ability to be brave and stand up for herself. She is aware that others make judgements of her vulnerability due to her strong loyalty to Luo, however she addresses the reader through these pronouns to uphold herself, exhibiting vitality. Her confrontation with the reader shows confidence and strength, characteristics she didn’t have when being cooped up inside her house. Through the selection of detail, the Seamstress claims she isn’t like the “French girls Balzac talks about” and describes herself as a “mountain girl”. Here, the Seamstress is acknowledging that she is different and unique. She separates herself from other girls with the descriptive word “mountain”, applying that she is more adventurous, bold, and courageous than the “French” girls.

Luo did more than just make her feel “disappointed,” Luo taught her to be observant, curious and sceptical of what people say. At this point the Little Seamstress has only begun to learn these traits only because of Luo. The Little Seamstress’ eventual discovery that others also have second longer toes like Luo foreshadows her discovery that other men will also treat her similarly due to her beauty. Later, the lessons learned by the Little Seamstress are exposed in her own story of the events occurring prior to Luo’s departure at their swimming hole. She shows her utter obedience by saying “I just love pleasing Luo.”(154)

The Narrator is not free of such infractions, either. On page 162, when he is reading to the Seamstress in Luo’s stead, the Narrator says he is “merely a substitute reader” to her, but goes on to claim that “She even seemed to appreciate my way of reading... more than my predecessor’s”. He is reading too deeply into her opinion of him, and feels a sense of entitlement to her affections; he tricks himself into thinking she is more into him than she is her actual boyfriend. Later on, once he learns that the Seamstress is pregnant and seeking an abortion, he “summoned every means of persuasion to stop her from running to the sorceresses for a herbal remedy” (page 172). Describing her as “running” off on her own shows his own lack of trust in the Seamstress’s judgement, and reveals that he thinks she is irrational. On top of this, nearing the novel’s end at page 196, the Narrator is indignant that the Seamstress “had not thought to tell [him]” about her plans to run away to the city. His entitlement to her affections shines through once again, in that she didn’t even want to tell her actual boyfriend about her