Time to Fiddle

First symbol: Alarm clock

• Quotes:
• 1: “In the end we had changed the position of the hands so many times that we had no idea what the time really was” (15).
• 2: “I was convinced that the real reason behind his liberal attitude was the irresistible attraction of our alarm clock, with its proud peacock-feathered rooster...The only way he could have it all to himself, was to dispatch us to Yong Qing. During the four days it took us to get there, he would be lord and master of the clock” (80).
• Thesis: The protagonists’ manipulation
• n of the alarm clock represents the fact that although their circumstances are desperate, they find ways to exercise control over their lives, even if it’s only the small things.
• Relation to coming of age: The alarm clock represents the two boys asserting increasing control over their lives. Especially in the repressive environment of the cultural revolution, they have lived their whole lives possessing little control over their decisions. Changing the hands on their alarm clock allows them to truly have control something for the first time, helping them to mature and grow as individuals.

Second symbol: Violin [or Wy-o-lin]

• Quotes:
• 1: “Some day, perhaps, once I was an accomplished violinist, some modest local or regional propaganda committee- in the district of Yong Jing, for instance- might open their doors to me, and might even hire me to perform Red violin concertos. But Luo couldn’t play the violin, I reflected, and he wasn’t much good at basketball or football either. In fact, he didn’t  possess a single skill that might help him to become one of the three in a thousand. He couldn’t even dream of it” (18).
• 2: “One peasant took the ‘toy’ from the headman’s hands, drummed with his fists on its back, then passed it to the next person…

‘A stupid toy,’ a woman commented hoarsely.

    ‘No,’ the village headman corrected her, ‘a bourgeois toy’” (4).

• Thesis: While the narrator had originally stored his hopes in the violin, believing that it could be his key to escaping his circumstances, he increasingly finds that his hopes are exaggerated and that he needs to rely on himself to get ahead.
• Connection:  Earlier on in the story, the narrator believes that the violin will be the key to his success. However, as part of growing up and maturing, he realizes over time that he will need to rely on himself, instead of counting on his talents or possessions to solve all his problems.