Ginger Schmidt, Hana Brett, Booker Martin, and Josef Orner
Ms. Tompkins
World Literature Honors p.2
8 October 2014
Cigarettes and the Little Locked Suitcase
Cigarette
Quote 1:
“‘I can’t find a single fag end.’
‘So?’
‘I feel depressed,’ he said” (Sijie 16).
Quote 2:
“‘You’re right, I’m shivering and I’m cold, like an old man at death’s door.’
I found a fag end in the bottom of my pocket, which I lit and offered to him. But it slipped from his fingers at once and fell to the ground.” (Sijie 33).
Suitcase
Quote 1:
“‘It reminds me of a scene in a film,’ said Luo. ‘You know, when a stolen suitcase turns out to be stuffed with money...’
‘So, are you weeping tears of joy?’ I said.
‘No. All I feel is loathing.’
‘Me too. Loathing for everyone who kept these books from us’” (Sijie 99).
Quote 2:
“We crept up to the suitcase. It was tied with a thick rope of plaited straw, knotted crosswise. We removed the rope and raised the lid in silence. Inside, piles of books shone in the light of our torch: a company of Western writers welcomed us with open arm” (Sijie 99).
Thesis:
In Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, author Dai Sijie employs the symbols of a cigarette and a locked suitcase to portray how when coming of age, a loss of hope can lead to selfish and immoral actions.
I really like how you tied in the the emotion and physical action into the the thesis. I completely agree that there is an emotional and physical manifestation of the experiences the characters are dealing with.
ReplyDeleteThe thesis illustrates a rather important point about coming of age. When people are young, they are brimming with hope with thoughts that they will succeed. However, the reality is that life will not guarantee our success, and as pointed out in the thesis, this causes us to make inconsiderate and unethical decisions.
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