Xiao Hui's Song 'Fish Seeking Water'

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In my opinion, the last story out of the four was the most powerful. As Tony Rayns wrote in Heard It Through the Grapevine, “It shows the short, frustrated life of a kid from Hubei who jumps off the balcony of a factory dormitory building in the south after suffering one setback too many” (Rayns). There were three moments from Xiao Hui’s story that had left a deep impression on me. The first scene being the part where Xiao Hui exchanged social account names with a girl named Lianrong at the night club he worked at. The names of their account caught my attention. Xiao Hui’s name translated in English is “I am a little bird”, while Lianrong’s name in English translation means “Fish seeking water”. Both account names are songs sang by Chinese singer. The song “I am a Little Bird” is written by Jonathan Lee. Lyrics in the song talks about things like whether struggling to live is more important or living with pride is more important. It also talks about whether it’s too much to ask for just a little bit of warmth in life. The song “ Fish seeking Water” is written by Chen Yang. Lyrics in the song describes a fish that had gotten used to rolling with the punches, while longing for the world that it will never be able to reach. The more …show more content…

Although in the movie, Lianrong said to Xiao Hui that since she’s a Buddhist, she believes in afterlife. So if she set the goldfish free, she will be able to gain good karma. From an audience’s view, I thought the real reason why she wanted to set the goldfish free was because she herself cannot be set free from her current state. By setting the goldfish free, in a way, is like setting herself free since the goldfish represents her. I felt so because when Lianrong released the goldfish, there was a moment where the camera captured her expression. She was staring at the goldfish that swam away with a rather serine

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