The Bloody Truth

“I noticed three blood spots in his left eye, one large and two small, all the same shade of bright red.”(3)

“Was it a ploy to get rid of the Red Guards, who were slipping out of his grasp? Or was it the fantasy of a great revolutionary dreamer, wishing to create a new generation?” (7)

Analysis: The three blood spots represent three stages of life; childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Also, there are three main people, whether it is Luo, the Narrator, and the Seamstress, or Luo, the narrator, and Four-Eyes. The Red Guards consisted mainly of teenagers who banded together to support Mao, they left their childhood behind because it was of fashion then to forget about past civilization and embrace Mao’s new form of life.

Before:  “‘They’re waiting for the blood to congeal,’ he replied. “It’s a remedy against cowardice. To gain courage, you must swallow it when it’s still lukewarm and frothy.’ ... When he had finished he sucked his fingers one by one, to make sure not a drop was wasted.” (94)

After: “A few minutes later, while he was making a knot in the rope, I heard Four-Eyes exclaim: ‘Shit!’ ‘Mind your language now, my son.’ ‘I’ve got the runs,’ Four-Eyes wailed. ‘Use the bucket in the bedroom!’ To our immense relief we heard Four-Eyes running out of the house. ‘Where are you off to?’ the mother cried. ‘To the maize field.’ ‘Have you got some paper?’ ‘No,’ replied the son from afar. ‘I’ll get you some!’ the mother called.” (104)

Analysis: Four-eyes drank buffalo blood for a rite-of-passage kind of event. The blood was supposed to give him more courage and make him more manly. However, the graphic description of his “disposal” had an air of a little baby getting diarrhea- vulnerability. I think this speaks to the idea of the fact that trying to grow up too fast does not work, because, as this happened, it led to a gross situation. He was so excited to grow up and lose his old ways that he forgot that he needed to step back and let things happen. Also, his mother was a big shadow over him meaning that he just still needed to be in her nest. A lot of the coming-of age quotes speak to the role of family in growing up.

The color Red & Three Blood Spots in Headman’s eye and Drinking Buffalo Blood are symbols in Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress that emphasize the coming of age in the main characters of the novel through other themes throughout the plot. For the color red and blood spots, it shows how events mark life and that life has different components and different stages of life. For the blood-drinking, there was a negative consequence showing if you are too vulnerable you will not grow up and have courage. Together, they represent the negative parts of blood.

Red Eye