Paradise Of The Blind, By Duong Thu

The novel Blindness by Jose Saramago uses an epidemic of blindness as the means to illustrate the fault in humanity. Blindness in this sense can hold countless differing meaning and values thus making it a prime literate and metaphoric choice to portray his message rather than any other epidemic. The definition of blindness are 1 Sightless; having less than 1/10 of normal vision in the more efficient eye when refractive defects are fully corrected by lenses; 2 Unable or unwilling to discern or judge . Although within the book the form of blindness is in the medical context of lost of vision, the author carries through his underlying message according to the second definition of blindness. Metaphorically the author may have intended to portray the ignorance of society and how being individually oriented may leave us blind to the problems we create.

The appreciation of nature is illustrated through imagery ‘and now the country bursts open on the sea-across a calico beach unfurling’. The use of personification in the phrase ‘and the water sways’ is symbolic for life and nature, giving that water has human qualities. In contrast, ‘silver basin’ is a representation of a material creation and blends in with natural world. The poem is dominated by light and pure images of ‘sunlight rotating’ which emphasizes the emotional concept of this journey. The use of first person ‘I see from where I’m bent one of those bright crockery days that belong to so much I remember’ shapes the diverse range of imagery and mood within the poem. The poet appears to be emotional about his past considering his thoughts are stimulated by different landscapes through physical journey.

The visual’s background is formed by a dark and starry night sky; stretching across the image and transitioning into a sunny day sky. This is a representation of the passage of time, life, death, and the power of memories. The nighttime depicts ageing and adulthood, whereas the daytime represents youth and life. In the poem, the narrator describes the sky, ‘Ambiguous night, ambiguous sky,’ which is symbolic for the transience between adulthood and childhood. An ambiguous sky is a sky which is unclear or undecided. The faded transition from the night sky to the day sky reflects this notion and the uncertainty of memories; displaying how the poem

In the novel A Daughter of Han by Ida Pruitt, the readers are taken through a journey of one woman through her life’s highs and lows. Through the eyes of Ning Lao T'ai-t'ai, readers can truly understand the life of a working woman during this time period. Although life may not have been easy at times, Ning Lao shows the determination and passion she had for her family and for their lives to be better. The life of a working woman is never an easy life but adding in the social rules and opium addiction that effected each part of Ning Lao’s life made it much more difficult.

`In the book Paradise of the Blind there is a young woman named Hang, she works in a textile factory in Russia.One day at work she was given a telegram that stated “very ill. Come immediately.” this telegram was from her uncle that lives in moscow. So as asked Hang makes her way back to her hometown, Hanoi , as she makes her way back on the train she starts to question why she was make this long trip back? She hates her uncle and her family's history and this is why she moved away to russia in the first place.

With his great-grandfather as attempted “Emperor” of China, his grandfather as the first Physician of Mao, and his father exiled for nearly two years, Li-Young Lee’s heritage powerfully impacted his poetry (Poetry Foundation). Two of his prominent and powerful poems, “This Hour and What is Dead” and “Visions and Interpretations”, were greatly affected by his parentage, and have ties to his past. Both poems also incorporate many metaphors, literary devices, symbols, and motifs. The structure of these poems create a vibrant, unblemished, and readable verse. All of these interconnected elements add to his poetry to create powerful poems, two of which are “Visions and Interpretations” and “This Hour and What is Dead”.

Paradise of the Blind is set in Vietnam where communism has taken over the country after the Vietnam War. The whole war changed the lives of the Vietnamese people; in which the story revolves around Hang and her views of her family members. Aunt Tam and Que are two members that Hang thinks dear of, even though they are beloved to her, Hang still views them very differently since she has lived and experienced events with them. What Hang sees can be represented as two systems of economic and political policies: capitalism and communism. Hang is in-between the two women causing her to represent Vietnam, thus creating a miniature Vietnam War within the novel. The symbolism between the women demonstrate a juxtaposition

The four basic tenets of Vietnamese culture are: the allegiance to the family, yearning for a good name, love of learning, and respect to other people. These can be observed throughout Paradise of the Blind and the interaction between the characters and their own family. Although the characters in the novel show their predominant culture, through the lens of a reader’s perspective the characters show a cultural fallacy in which they do not show the characteristics stated as the Vietnamese value system. In Paradise of the Blind, Vietnamese culture is made prominent throughout the story but the characters contradict their Vietnamese culture through family relationships, lifestyles, and actions.

As one explores the novel, Paradise of the Blind, the author Duong Thu Huong shows occurrence of the concept of love throughout her novel by manipulating each character to show this through both their actions and emotions. Although the characters are manipulated by the author to show love, it is the interactions between them that show us the deeper analytical meaning behind their perspectives of love. Thus, the concept of love is prevalent throughout Paradise of the Blind as shown through the progression and motives of main and side characters.

Characters and Symbols within Paradise of the Blind The two most powerful tools any author has at their disposal for creating meaning, are the characters they create and the symbols they formulate. In the novel Paradise of the Blind, Duong Thu Huong makes use of numerous symbols and round characters to illustrate the character of Hang and how it is affected throughout this story, and by whom/what it is affected by. These elements help us to dive into the complex character of Hang herself and ultimately see how she develops as a dynamic character in this novel.

In the Vietnamese novel Paradise of the Blind, Duong Thu Huong argues the differences in human spirit within characters such as Aunt Tam and Que in order to validate the negative government role in the 1950’s through the use of symbolism. Huong validates the negative impact of the communist government through the use of symbolism of multiple figures such as the pig. As Hang wakes up

After reading this short story, I am immersed in an overwhelming mood for a long time. The touching story, the beautiful landscape and the emotions of the characters are all carved into my mind, leading me into musing. Okiyo-san’s story is sad, but there seems to be something beyond the sadness. Reflected on this feeling of mine, I find it is rooted in Kyoko’s physical descriptions of the landscape and natural elements in the story. Landscape and natural elements play enormous roles in the story, not only provide insights on the authorial tone of the story and enhance and expand its theme, but also help form the structure of the story.

A Thousand Splendid Suns is an historical fiction novel, written by Khaled Hosseini, set in Afghanistan during the late 1960’s to early 2000’s. It follows the life of Mariam, a ‘harami’ child, who experiences the twisted reality of polygamy first hand. Hosseini explores thought provoking ideas in a society where gender inequality and poorly valued education is the normality. Hosseini’s main purpose is to show the importance of differing perspectives, as well as how to discern between the right and wrong ones.

Music floated through the brisk cold air from the open window of the music school looking over the peaceful lake where families and young lovers basked in the morning gentle rays. The spring flowers, which were gently swaying in the breeze as their petals reached toward the sky while enamoring the hearts of poets and painters alike and the flowers blushed at the attention they received from the young children who’s greedy hands yearned to clutch the colorful beings in their dirty little hands, only to have their mothers and nurse maids smack their hands away. The trees bend, rustled, and sung to all around them as they attempted to tempt people to rest beneath them, though their longing would have to wait till the summer sun began her

This book is the moving autobiography of a young Chinese girl, Adeline Yen Mah. Born the fifth child to an affluent Chinese family her life begins tragically. Adeline’s mother died shortly after her birth due to complications bought on by the delivery, and in Chinese culture this marks her as cursed or ‘bad luck’ (p.3). This situation is compounded by her father’s new marriage to a lady who has little affection for her husband’s five children. She displayed overt antagonism and distrust towards all of the children, particularly Adeline, whilst favoring her own younger son and daughter born soon after the marriage. The book outlines Adeline’s