Empire Of The Sun Literary Analysis

As a prisoner in a Japanese prison camp a choice is given between death and life but very few chose life. A young boy faces this exact decision in the Japanese prison camp called Lunghua Camp in the novel, Empire of the Sun. This boy’s name is Jim and at the beginning of the novel he is separated from his parents because of a world war. He gets placed in Japanese prison camps where he becomes friends with Basie and Dr. Ransome who provide knowledge and guidance to him throughout his imprisonment struggles. Some of Jim's difficulties in the novel include war, internment camps, death marches and starvation. The theme, perseverance and love leads to growth in overcoming obstacles is illustrated through a child's love, weaknesses of prisoners,

In part two of the novel Jim experiences the execution of a coolie and author J.G. Ballard uses imagery to make clear the point that nobody was willing to sacrifice them-self for the coolie. Ballard explains this when she wrote “Around the parade ground the hundreds of prisoners watched without moving” and later wrote that it would take 10 minutes “to kill the coolie” (178,179). This is an of what happens when people give up on each other and it grows Jim’s ability to overcome death by giving him a lesson of what happens when people don't stand together. Also the quote is an example of imagery because it gives the readers an image of the scenery and arouses their emotions for the coolie. Next, diction and atmosphere are both used to reveal the weakness of the prisoners on the long trip to Nantao. An example is during one of the brakes when Ballard tells how some prisoners stayed in the “trampled grass, unwilling to leave this placid canal” (Ballard 196). These prisoners did not persevere through the hardships the war brought so it caused Jim have to mature by making the decision to go against culture and survive. Also diction is used in the quote because the words “unwilling”, and “placid canal” are used to indicate that nobody was willing to live anymore so this showed weakness in the prisoners (Ballard 196).

In part two of the novel Jim was laying on the ground in the Olympic stadium about to be kicked by a Japanese sentry when suddenly “a flash of light filled the stadium” and later the novel says the sentry left Jim untouched but without food (Ballard 210). Ballard uses symbolism because the light and the sentry leaving both symbolizes the end of the war and Jim hunger symbolizes how the Japanese left china destroyed. So it relates back to the theme because the unexpected help of the “flash of light” helps Jim overcome the Japanese sentry. Later another unexpected thing helps Jim overcome the war and this happens when an American bomber flies over the Japanese air field where Jim is. Author J.G. Ballard stated “the ski was filled with colored parachutes” and not just any parachutes but ones that were filled with so much food that they gave Jim “a notion of choice that he had not known for years” (225,226). The parachutes symbolize hope for a renewal of Jim’s old life because Ballard shows how the parachutes rejuvenates Jim and get his mind off the war. The quote points out how the parachutes allow Jim to overcome the war and this grows his maturity because he now understands that their is always