Power Struggle In Mo Yan's Red Sorghum

Like walking through a barren street in a crumbling ghost town, isolation can feel melancholy and hopeless. Yet, all it takes is an ordinary flower bud amidst the desolation to show life really can exist anywhere. This is similar to Stephen’s journey in The Samurai’s Garden. This novel is about an ailing Chinese boy named Stephen who goes to a Japanese village during a time of war between Japan and China to recover from his disease. By forming bonds with several locals and listening to their stories, he quickly matures into a young adult. Throughout the novel, Gail Tsukiyama shows how disease forces Stephen into isolation; however, Matsu’s garden and Sachi lead him out of solitude.

The poet appeals to our senses of sight by using imagery such as “Particle waves of people”. The simile “As in a whash mash mochi making” is particularly effective, because it is a detailed simile which appeals to our sense of hearing by adding whash in the line.Cultural expressions can be seen throughout the poem by mentioning people are making mochi in the city. Mochi is Japanese rice cake made of mochigome. Another cultural expression can be seen in the last two lines which says “Give me land lots of land don’t Fence me in”. This means that Joy Kogawa is used to spaciousness in Canada, and when she got to Tokyo, she felt claustrophobic. Specific vocabulary used by the composer reflects the cultural identity of Tokyo as seen by the poem containing Japanese words (such as mochi) and by the comparison of Canada to Tokyo.

In Lord of the Flies, the whipping scene highlights the fear of violent punishment that Jack used to gain supremacy on the island. This is emphasised by the low angle shot of Jack framed symbolically by a throne like formation of rock. The scene reflects how the leaders of the USSR used similar methods of law and order to remain in control. The boys’ deterioration into savagery and Simon’s ultimate murder symbolises how human cruelty is revealed when rules and values are lost. The costuming changed and became more tribal and dishevelled as the children became more savage; this reflects the loss of their British values which occurred in WWII. Similarly, in Animal Farm, Napoleon changed the rules that the animals lived by to suit his agenda at any given time. The comparative language used in the dialogue, “It appears to me that the wall looks different,” reveals Napoleon’s corruption as he used his power to manipulate the rules; this was also practised in the USSR during the Cold War. Furthermore, the visual imagery of, “the dogs promptly tore their throats out,” demonstrates Napoleon’s use of extreme violence to maintain control. This scene is symbolic of Napoleon silencing political opposition and reflects the actions of Stalin during the Great Purge. Evidently, corruption in law and order has been used portray the use and abuse of

The Death of Woman Wang, by Jonathan Spence is an educational historical novel of northeastern China during the seventeenth century. The author's focus was to enlighten a reader on the Chinese people, culture, and traditions. Spence's use of the provoking stories of the Chinese county T'an-ch'eng, in the province of Shantung, brings the reader directly into the course of Chinese history. The use of the sources available to Spence, such as the Local History of T'an-ch'eng, the scholar-official Huang Liu-hung's handbook and stories of the writer P'u Sung-Ling convey the reader directly into the lives of poor farmers, their workers and wives. The intriguing structure of The Death of Woman Wang consists on observing these people working on

This can be seen as a macrocosm, in which the boundaries of the society are about to be crossed, and rebellion is a natural reaction to a higher level of hierarchy that sketches the different positions of power. The reaction to a non-familiar person that is part of a different generation and culture portray the humanistic rebellion to power that can be broken at a certain point.

Red Sorghum, a novel written by Mo Yan, depicts events of horror on the Sorghum fields during the battle between the Chinese and Japanese. As the novel unfolded the role of Red Sorghum as an active character in the novel was established. As an agricultural necessity for the Chinese, the participation of the plant in the story declared that the people’s relationship to the grain is far deeper than the just a means to earn money for business purposes. The contributions sorghum made through its life giving abilities confirmed it as a vital part to the Chinese’s survival, especially through the hardships of the war. With the plants powers to provide and sustain life, protect and offer a sanctuary to earth’s creatures, and the plants relation to the human demonstrates its place as more than just an agricultural commodity.

With increasing frequency the guerillas (the independent military who fights the government military) and soldiers engage in battle at night, regardless of the people who live all around. The homes are damaged by gunfire and mortar and many of the town’s people are killed.

The life of a poor farmer in China during the early twentieth century is full of its fair share of good and bad times. This is certainly true is Pearl S. Buck’s novel The Good Earth, which tells the story of the young Chinese peasant farmer Wang Lung and his journey through life. Throughout his journey, he is confronted with disasters, dilemmas, and tragedy, but is also at times blessed with good fortune at times. Through Wang Lung’s experiences and the rises and falls of his fortunes, The Good Earth conveys messages about life’s peaks and valleys, as stated by The New York Times, which said of The Good Earth, “A comment upon the meaning and tragedy of life as it is lived in any age in any quarter of the globe.”

The extremity changes from fear of the unfamiliar to absolute anarchy, savagery and eventually death. When put into universal terms, one can only conceal internal savagery for so long before it reveals through external actions when given the appropriate opportunity. The fear of the unknown can be a dominant influence, which can turn to complete madness and insanity if it is not taken care of properly.

ung Chang’s Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China follows three generations of woman in China through live and political struggles. China’s transformation between 1910s and 1970s, was one of radical change and caused great suffering. The importance of Chang’s book is its in a women 's point of view by showing the suffering and healing that occurred and to educate about the history of China through the Warlord, Japanese, and Mao rule.

The Qingming handscroll depicts a bustling Chinese city prior to the late twelfth century. The scroll’s starting scenes are of a beautiful landscape, and the city’s level of activity is first conveyed in the bridge scene of sections 13 and 14. Through close analysis of this scene, it seems that the artist’s perspective in this scroll is an idealistic rather than realistic one, portraying things as they should be rather than as they are. This can be seen in his choices to depict an all-male crowd, to portray an unrealistically spotless road, and to highlight the coordinated actions of those on an off-course boat.

Natan Tataran 1/21/14 Honors English Literary Analysis Final Draft Ever since it first came to be, China has always been a patriarchal society, in which women had almost no rights and whose only role was to stay at home and to bear children. In the story A Good Earth, the author Pearl S. Buck uses very vibrant, realistic characters and symbolism to show how much O-lan supported her family. She also showed how women clearly played an important role in society, at this era in China, even if they were not acknowledged for it. Throughout the story, it is clearly visible to readers how O-lan is the backbone of Wang Lung’s family, and how her death affected many mentally, and physically. Buck skillfully uses the beliefs of old Chinese traditions

This could show the author biases about the idea of liberation and freedom for women in China is different from other countries. Even though he doesn't talk about women, he does give present clear evidence that this book would be about the modern maleness of being a stronger

The novel clearly reiterates the notion that more people conform than rebel when confronted with authoritarian control. The animals in the novel are divided into two categories. Those who have knowledge and therefore power, and those who lack knowledge and therefore are submissive. The main difference is that the submissive animals such as the horses and sheep represent the people that chose to stay uneducated, as it is a much less difficult pathway. They chose this because knowing consequences creates threatening actions against the livelihood of the animals. Despite the animals suffering from violence, poor conditions, and being overworked, they continue to conform as it becomes an easier lifestyle for them. The repetition of the lines “Napoleon is always right” and “I will work harder” showcases how the farm animals follow the routine of others and resign to conformity as their means of life, for it is an easier, simpler outlook to life for them. The idea of being an outlier and having a voice is forsaken by the animals, as the narrative evolves they witness more and more unruly acts of behaviour from the pigs, who are controlling the farm. The emotive language used within the line “Silent and terrified, the animals crept back into the barn” effectively demonstrate how a wave of melancholic and frightened emotions flood through the farm animals, creating a sense of compliance within. The use of threatening tone within the lines “At this there was a terrible baying sound outside, and nine enormous dogs wearing

Life in rural Shandong during the late seventeenth century was unbelievably harsh and demanding. The ordinary day to day experiences for both peasants and landlords was wrought with difficulties as they sought to maintain a semblance of order in trying times. No other place, however, suffered more and exemplified the harshness of the time than the county of T’an-ch’eng. The peasants of T’an-ch’eng bore witness to an innumerable amount of pain and suffering as they were continuously besieged with one disaster and after another. One of the most notable tragedies was when the people of T’an-ch’eng had to endure an overwhelming snowfall that killed many, destroyed houses and prevented crops from growing. Another tragedy was when the snow melted and spring came, locust eggs that had been buried there before had hatched and the people of T’an-ch’eng were once more under duress as they feared starvation