Balzac And The Little Chinese Seamstress

464 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Balzac and the chinese seamstress reflection essay

The film Balzac and the little chinese seamstress is produced in 2002, based on the historical background of cultural revolution of China. During the cultural revolution period, The producer Dai SiJie was sent to re-educated in the mountains of Sichuan province, and spent the yeas between 1971 and 1975. His own experience in this time period helped to make this movie vivid. The movie is about two city teenage boys named Luo and Ma, sent to a remote mountain known as the Phoenix of Sky to be re-educated. They are asked to working in the coal mines and farms. During this time, they fall in love with a mountain girl named little seamstress. She is the daughter of the local tailor. Ma and Luo also meet a fellow city kid, nicknamed Four-eyes, he is also being re-educated in a nearby town. …show more content…

First irony started in the very beginning of the film when Luo played a Mozart's music in front of the village leader. During culture revolution, western culture including music was banned by Chairman Mao ZeDong in China, no one allowed to play western music, and things associated with Chairman Mao were held in esteem. When the village leader asked what was the name of the song, Ma responded with wisdom "Mozart is thinking of Mao". In this way, Ma and Luo successfully avoided serious political punishment. However, the fact is that Mozart had been dead even before the birth of Mao. By saying "Mozart is thinking of Mao" indicated that people were blind-sighted to follow Chairman Mao during cultural

Show More
Related

  • The Struggles of Liang Heng in Son of the Revolution

    1190 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Cultural Revolution in China was led by Mao Zedong, due to this Liang and many others faced overwhelming obstacles in many aspects of their life such as work, family and everyday encounters, if affected everyone’s families life and education, Liang lets us experience his everyday struggles during this era, where the government determined almost every aspect of life.

    Read More

  • Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

    351 Words  | 1 Pages

    Stories were invented a by people at the dawn of civilization for many reasons. Some stories were invented to tell history, some to show patterns. In the book "Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress" they discover what stories can do to them, and how powerful they are. In the book the Communists ban literature so the people lose there individualism so the government can have complete control of the nation.

    Read More

  • Red Scarf Girl Sparknotes

    1057 Words  | 3 Pages

    After Chairman Mao’s death, Ji-Li and the rest of China realize that he was never the right leader for China and instead of improving China’s society, he actually prevented it. In the end, Ji-Li knows she was brainwashed by Mao’s actions. The Communist Party told them what to wear, read, think, and how to act. They never let China be free to be who they are. It was not until Mao's death that Ji-li began questioning what they were told. “It was only after Mao’s death in 1976 that people woke up. We finally learned that the whole Cultural Revolution had been part of a power struggle at the highest levels of the Party. Our leader had taken advantage of our trust and loyalty to manipulate the whole country.” (Jiang, Chapter 18). Now, as an adult, Ji-li tries to bridge the gap between China and America. She loves the freedom she enjoys in America, especially that she does not have to worry about what she says or thinks, but she does not hate China. People can not use political corruption and injustice to get what they want out of society. Promoting equality and opportunities for all is key to improving society. We can not get behind beating people up or imprisoning them because they did not abide by society’s

    Read More

  • The Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

    1247 Words  | 3 Pages

    Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is a marvelous novel, written by Dai Sijie, which himself was re-educated between 1971 and 1974 during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. In Dai Sijie’s Balzac and the Little Seamstress three separate accounts are given of an incident in which Luo and the Little Seamstress make love in an isolated mountain pool. Two of these perspectives are given by the participants while the third is provided by the old miller who observes their love making from a distance. Of all the accounts, I found the count of this incident of Little Seamstress most appealing as she is able to present at an imaginative description of this setting and allow the readers to understand her thoughts and feelings. In contrast the account of the Old Miller is more detached and is more focused about the physical beauty of the Little Seamstress, while Luo’s story to me is more focused on his own concerns and is desire to escape the remote mountain village which he has been sent.

    Read More

  • Balzac And The Chinese Seamstress

    974 Words  | 2 Pages

    Communism came to power in China in the year 1949 and was dictated by Mao Zedong, who later ordered for all educated men and women of China to be reeducated in the countryside. Lou and the narrator were just two of many thousands to be sent off to be reeducated. Lou and the narrator then meet the Little Chinese Seamstress, and Lou, as well as the narrator to an extend fall in love with her.

    Read More

  • Use Of Situational Irony In The Wizard Of Oz

    557 Words  | 2 Pages

    The purpose of this irony is to shock the reader, since ironic things are by definition unexpected, it works well as a twist in the story.

    Read More

  • Personification And Irony In 'The Pardoner's Tale'

    679 Words  | 2 Pages

    On their way to find Death, the three rioters stumble upon an old sorrowful man in a shack. The old man hears the three men ranting on about their quest to find death and tells them he has been waiting for Death to come get him, for Death has traveled all over the world. Hearing the old man bring up death, the three men demand the old man to tell them where they can find death so they can kill it. The old man tells them they can find death under the oak tree, the rioters run to find the oak tree and find nothing but a bag full of gold coins. Confused because they did not find death where the old man said they could, they forget about why they were looking for and think about how their lives will become better with the golden coins they have found also they think about not being able to walk back to town with the gold coins or they would all be taken as thieves. There is several examples of irony in the story as well. Example one would be when they all agreed that know matter what they will not become greedy and turn their back on one another because they are like

    Read More

  • Paul Laurence Dunbar and Edwin Arlington Robinson

    1045 Words  | 3 Pages

    1.      Irony is a useful device for giving stories many unexpected twists and turns. In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," irony is used very effectively in her story. Situational irony is used to show the reader what is assumed to happen sometimes doesn't. Dramatic irony is used to hint to the reader something is happening to the characters in the story that they do not know about. Irony is used throughout Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" through the use of situational irony and the use of dramatic irony.

    Read More

  • Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

    1198 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are many things that most people take for granted. Things people do regularly, daily and even expect to do in the future. These things include eating meals regularly, having a choice in schooling, reading, choice of job and a future, and many more things. But what if these were taken away and someone told you want to eat, where and when to work, what you can read, and dictated your future. Many of these things happened in some degree or another during the Chinese Culture Revolution under Mao Zedong that began near the end of the 1960’s. This paper examines the novel Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie and a book by Michael Schoenhals titled China’s Culture Revolution, 1966-1969. It compares the way the Chinese Cultural Revolution is presented in both books by looking at the way that people were re-educated and moved to away, what people were able to learn, and the environment that people lived in during this period of time in China.

    Read More

  • Growth In Balzac And The Little Chinese Seamstress By Die Sijie

    797 Words  | 2 Pages

    Growth, an innate human element, is single handedly responsible for the advancement of society into the future. It brings about the advancement of one’s body, emotionally and intellectually. The changes brought by growth are incessant, and can go down two different directions; one of benefit, and one of malice. Two young men in Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Die Sijie, experience beneficial growth. The duo, two Chinese city boys, are sent to a rural mountain side in China to experience re-education. This new program instated under the communist party of China, led by Mao Zedong, aims to restructure the knowledge and understandings of modern culture of people in China. However, the two young men are remolded via the different workings

    Read More

  • Situational and Dramatic Irony in Story of an Hour, Everyday Use, The Necklace, and The Lottery

    840 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the stories “Story of an Hour”, “Everyday Use”, “The Necklace”, and “The Lottery” it is evident that irony was quite a large part of the short story. There is situational irony, which is when the situation turns out differently than expected. Also, dramatic irony is present, which is when you as a reader knows more than the character. The authors seem to base their whole story around irony to surprise their readers.

    Read More

  • Foils And Irony In Hamlet

    655 Words  | 2 Pages

    One example of expertly used irony is when Hamlet is talking to his mother when he hears a noise behind the curtains, so he stabs the figure behind the tapestries thinking it is Claudius, “How now, a rat? Dead for a ducat, dead!” (3, 4, 24), only to find out it is Polonius. This irony can be interpreted as dramatic irony, because the audience knows Polonius is behind the curtains while Hamlet does not. It can also be interpreted as situational irony, because Hamlet suspects that the person spying on him is Claudius. Wanting to avenge his father, he stabs him through the curtain but it turned out to be Polonius. Doing this initiates a chain of events that lead to his tragic death. Another prime example of irony increasing the enjoyment of the readers for the past 400 years is when Laertes is killed by his own poisoned sword. When Osric asks Laertes how he is doing right after he was scratched with his own sword, Laertes responds, “Why, as a woodcock to mine own springe, Osric. I am justly killed with mine own treachery.” (5, 2, 308-309). It is quite ironic that Laertes is murdered by his own plan. One would expect Laertes to draw first blood as he is a better skilled swordsman than Hamlet. However, he dies by poison first because the sword that was intended to kill Hamlet was used on him; this is situational irony. Irony brings a greater depth to the story.

    Read More

  • Irony in Kate Chopin's The Story of an Hour

    1289 Words  | 3 Pages

    Without irony in a story it may be very boring and easy to put the story down. With irony included in the story the reader does not want to put the book down and stays interested throughout the entire story because irony makes the reader want to know what is going to happen next because they can’t guess it. Kate Chopin uses irony to perfection in this short story. She does this by using irony to let the reader better understand the purpose and meaning of the story. Without the irony in this story it would be dull and boring, but with irony, the story has suspense and unexpected events. This story was not like other stories that you usually read. It was not predictable at all. I love the vivid imagery throughout the whole story. I like this story because you can not really predict what is going to happen. When you can predict, it usually ruins the story. It kept you wandering about how it was going to end.

    Read More

  • Irony in Kate Chopin's Story of an Hour

    794 Words  | 2 Pages

    Irony is a useful device for giving stories many unexpected twists and turns. In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," irony is used as an effective literary device. Situational irony is used to show the reader that what is expected to happen sometimes doesn't. Dramatic irony is used to clue the reader in on something that is happening that the characters in the story do not know about. Irony is used throughout Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" through the use of situational irony and the use of dramatic irony.

    Read More

  • The Irony in Hamlet by William Shakespeare

    674 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the book Hamlet by Shakespeare, irony is used numerous times in order to give the reader insight on what is going on. As stated in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, irony is an action that is understood by the audience but not by the characters in the play. If this strategy were not included in this drama, it would take away the whole purpose. This play would consist of no suspense and would be extremely boring to the reader because the characters would know as much as the readers know. This allows for incite to what can happen in the future or what has happened in the past. The irony in this play ultimately revolves around Hamlet and his plan to achieve revenge with Claudius. From the play that Hamlet organizes about the death of his father to the ending where Fortinbras happened to be at the right place at the right time to take over the throne in Denmark; this paper examines the cases in where irony is used to show how Hamlet is preventing his murderer uncle from getting away with his fathers death.

    Read More

More about Balzac And The Little Chinese Seamstress

Open Document