Critical Analysis “Comment Wang-Fô fut sauvé” by Marguerite Yourcenar The text that I have decided to study is “Comment Wang-Fô fut sauvé” by Marguerite Yourcenar. The extract is located after the first paragraph at the beginning of the story. We are introduced to the characters Ling, Ling’s wife and Wang-Fô . This presents a development of characterisation when we meet Ling in the first paragraph of the extract. The description of Ling’s wife follows straight after. In the second paragraph , we encounter Wang-Fô whom inspired Ling to have a new perspective of the world as “Ling avait grandi dans une maison d’où la richesse éliminait les hasards.” The passage is written in an omniscient third person narrative. It is predominantly narrative …show more content…
It can be seen in the lines “captait le crepuscule”, “cette femme au coeur limpide comme on aime un miroir”. The repetition of c’s adds emphasis and draws the attention of the reader to the line. This can also be seen in the line “Ling la zébrure livide de l’éclair”. The appearance of the repeated letters signifies that the words are important in the sentence and it is conveying an important message. Another literary technique that can be seen in this extract is the use of similes. This is most evident in the line “L’épouse de Ling était frêle comme un roseau, enfantine comme du lait, douce comme la salive, salée comme les larmes.” This line gives a descriptive description of Ling’s wife. It helps us understand what Ling’s wife is like by comparing her to different things such as “un roseau” or “du lait”. The author chose these words because they are something that we are familiar with so that we are able to grasp them quickly. An important key moment in the passage was the second paragraph of the extract. It is when Ling meets Wang-Fô, an old painter whom has complete admiration for the beauty of art. Ling had him as a “compagnon de table” and he enjoyed his company. His love for the accuracy for his paintings …show more content…
The two important themes that I identified within this extract are beauty and love. Firstly, beauty is conveyed via descriptions of Ling’s wife. This is evident in the line “ une épouse et la prit très belle”. I think that the beauty of the wife mirrors the appreciation for aesthetics that is clearly evident in the text as if the wife herself, was as beautiful as one of Wang-Fô ‘s paintings. The latter theme is evident in the love for his wife as well. Although the wife is a minor character, I think that she was created as a platform to convey themes such as love and to show that these feelings live on despite the passing of the individual in question. Themes are central to making the story more universal and applicable to the real world. My opinion of the extract is that it begins to sow the seeds for the development and plot of the story. I genuinely enjoyed the extract as I feel that it evoked strong feelings such as an appreciation for things that we have taken for granted as exemplified when Ling mourns his dead wife and also the feeling of long-lasting friendship which I think is something that everyone can relate to. I find
For nine years, the people of Chiang Lo County lived in terror of the monstrous Yung serpent whose appetite was only fulfilled by human flesh. (331) Each year county officials would choose a young maiden to be sacrificed, bind her and take her to the mountainside where they had built a temple near the opening of the serpent’s cave and watched as the serpent fed off of the young maiden. In the tenth year Chi Li was determined to volunteer. Living in a patriarchal society she felt that she had no self-worth and her life was
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, written by Dai Sijie, is set in 1971 during the China’s Cultural Revolution. The book starts with two boys, unnamed narrator and his friend Luo being sent from their hometown Chengdu to a small village in Phoenix Mountain to be “re-educated”. The book continues with them skillfully living through the harsh village life with their talent of storytelling and their western knowledge gained from books. Throughout the novel Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, Dai Sijie illustrates different types of literature and how it transforms the character’s life, action and their personalities in both good and bad way. This book is one unique novel about two boys and one little girl’s transformation by the magical
Ang Lee’s choice of character for Li Mu Bai represents not only the good in a person, but in society, using Li Mu Bai’s language
By using her own memories and stories, Ji-li Jiang generates a sense of sympathy in the hearts of readers for a young, confused girl who was unwillingly tossed into the whirlpool of madness that was the Chinese Cultural
Her translation gives the readers the knowledge to look at the poetry in a erotic way. There are a lot of symbols that one can focus on this poetry. One way of looking at the poem from Falk’s translation is how unusual the culture is. The culture of the story is strange to look at for some readers. In class, the way the culture was recognized was that it was an honor and shame culture.
In conclusion, Wang Lung displays flaws and virtues throughout his eventful life. By seeing these, the audience has a much deeper understanding and interest into the character. The reader can connect to Lung because they aren’t perfect and have flaws in their character as well. Had Lung only demonstrated virtues, he would be seen as a stale, uninteresting character and people would not be able to connect and relate with him. As JJ Abrams, a famous Hollywood director and producer, once said, “To me the interesting main character is never the one without
The third example “Husband and wife were originally birds in the same forest. When destiny determines each flies away” (p.36), Mei is saying Saoqiao is heartbroken and regretful, and even tried to commit suicide after her divorce. These three example conclude Menglong’s languages is hackneyed and low in literary because it quotes a set phrase dismissive of the true emotion between Xingge and Sanqiao. Feng Menglong’s content and method of his edification are different from traditional morality and Neo-Confucian ethics, but I’m still thinking, “The pearl Shirt Reecountered” is an interesting chapter to read because it is different from other books.
Throughout The Good Earth we come across many tough conflicts both internally and externally, but even so, many of them we can relate to. Wang Lung, O-Lan, Lotus, Ching, and the rest of Wang Lung’s family all must deal with conflicts between each other, with nature, and within themselves. But they aren’t so different from us and we find ourselves in many of the same situations that our beloved characters do. Wang Lung deals with guilt and greed throughout the novel and it is something that most people can relate to in the entirety of their life.
From here, we can observe the moral code imposed on the women in Confucius society echoing throughout the poem. In order to attract men, women need to be reserved with dignity and not to act on their feelings. Because of this, the noble man feels uneasy and tortured by his fascination for the lady, as the lady, just like the short and long duckweeds she collects move in every which way, is hard to know her true feelings and thus hard to pursuit. The imagery of swaying duckweed in the water described in second stanza can also be interpreted as the enchanting figure of the lady as she is working and this is associated with the virtue she possesses. In the third stanza, the narrator describes the love this noble man has for the lady has intensified to a point that his mind and thought are all evolve around the lady.
Olan’s husband has not treated her very well as their life together goes on, once they become wealthy, Wang Lung thinks he needs another wife and just leaves Olan. Olan and Wang Lung have a fool child because she did not get enough nutrients, and Olan wants to sell her as a slave, but Wang Lung ha a special connection to her and convinces Olan not to sell
Throughout the entire novel, the mothers and daughters face inner struggles, family conflict, and societal collision. The divergence of cultures produces tension and miscommunication, which effectively causes the collision of American morals, beliefs, and priorities with Chinese culture which
“When I discover who I am, I will be free.” ~Ralph Ellison With a cultural identity as unclear as her own, Sarah Howe grew up questioning the human condition, specifically regarding the idea of belonging. Yet despite her great efforts in discovering what it means to have a bicultural heritage, her journey of understanding is forever ongoing.
As a whole, while the story was very depressing at times, it still has an underlying tone of family ideals, as the relationship between the mother and daughter still remained despite the arguments they had. In my opinion, I think the author’s message that she wished to convey was that despite any event that may occur, family members will always be there support you. This is shown in how, despite Jing Mei’s failures at becoming a prodigy, her mother still supported her and did not give up hope on helping her daughter becoming a successful person. As such, it strengthens the idea that “family will always be there for you”, no matter what hardships come their way. In addition, it helped to add a sense of togetherness in the short story, as it inadvertently revealed how much Jing’s mother actually loved her, despite her tough exterior.
She shows the reader how all over China, the language and culture is expressed differently. For example, in the north, where Wang lives, it’s mostly country and the language is spoken “...slow and deep and it wells from the throat” (107). While in the south “...the people spoke in syllables which splintered from their lips and from the ends of their tongues” (107).
In conclusion, since women in China during the early 20th century has a role to fulfill in a family, O-Lan was not appreciated by everyone for all her hard work like caring for her family and bearing sons for Wang Lung because her family saw it as her role in the family and she was expected to do