Boxer And Saints Analysis

Justice is defined as righteousness, equitableness, and moral rightness; but how can an event be deemed justified if it may also be viewed as utterly absurd? Throughout Boxers and Saints by Gene Lang Yuen, the idea of justice is perpetually dwelled upon. In Boxers, Bao goes through extreme measures to rescue China from foreign invaders, eventually allowing his inner conscience to overpower him. In contrast, Saints surrounds Vibiana who initially retains evil intentions, but substitutes her behavior with righteousness after converting to Christianity. The defence of her beliefs functions as Vibiana’s tragic flaw, ultimately leading to her destruction. The characters in these dual books carry out feats that can either be recognized as admissible

This occurs at her turning point, during which she undergoes a baptism. Though she partakes in it strictly as an attempt to redeem her previous actions, “the heaviness [which causes her to do so] was probably guilt from when killing [her] grandfather” (Saints 51). The reader is left with a sense of justice as Vibiana upholds honorable intentions in finally displaying compassion toward her grandfather. She desperately aspires for her actions to be forgiven. Moreover, her will to fight for Christianity also demonstrates her newly found compassion. She urges Kong that “God wants [him] to train [her] into a maiden warrior” (Saints 103), which is saintly in that she does not know how to fight but still desires to do so. Her mercy is made apparent since she feels too strongly about her beliefs to let the people who share them die without first retaliating. This defence of beliefs is additionally expressed during her primary act of justice: teaching Bao the Lord’s prayer. Even when Bao endangers her life by showing no compassion, but violence instead, she still gives him all she can and defends her beliefs while doing so. He asks that she “just tell [him her] name”, but Vibiana angrily replies, “my name is Vibiana” (Saints 161). She persists to hold onto her morals, in opposition to Bao who uses to Lord’s Prayer to stay alive. Therefore, Vibiana ultimately becomes a martyr as she dies and saves Bao’s life, and at the same time expresses compassion toward a person who did not convey any towards her; even though she dies with the impression that she was “unable to protect anyone” (Saints 162). Her prominent advancement through these books leads to an exhibition of the greatest possible act of compassion: a death saving a life. In that way, she is the most justified individual in these