Literature, and written works in general, has continuously shown through world history to react to the cultural, social and political context surrounding it. That being said, with a commitment to literary arts one can experience alternative worldly and cultural views to their own and learn new ways to live an authentic life. Once the gratifying freedom of literature has been opened an individual, the emotional, intellectual and spiritual elements of their lives can expand to new heights. In the novel, Balzac and the Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie, it tells the story of young men and woman discovering the profoundness of literature for the first time. The book being set during the Cultural Revolution in China, where all politically opposing art forms and culture has been censored from humanity, the central characters Luo, the Little Chinese Seamstress and the narrator strive to find the quintessence of freedom and self-expression through the books they read, even while under the ever repressive nature of Mao’s re-education villages. A more extensive comprehension of the books read by the central characters in Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, can allow for a greater understanding why there exposure to them encouraged and inspired escapism from their current situation. To address to first, the books read by the central characters in the novel introduce them to new concepts and ideas on ways of perceiving and living in humanity that they would not otherwise be able to