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Forbidden City Analysis

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Canadian author William E. Bell’s young adult novel Forbidden City: A Novel of Modern China (1990), is set against the backdrop of the infamous Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing. Canadian teenager Alex Jackson’s journalist father takes him to the Chinese capital city, where, father and son are caught up in the student protests in Tiananmen Square. They’re separated, and Alex finds himself on the run while in possession of video footage that the Chinese government wants to destroy. His only hope is the student protesters. Exploring themes of coming-of-age, political repression, and the importance of journalists and truth-tellers, Forbidden City was banned in China for its unflinching depiction of the regime’s brutal approach towards protesters, while it was critically acclaimed in the rest of the world. …show more content…

It’s too dangerous to return to the Beijing Hotel, but they come up with the idea that Alex can ride on the back of a rickshaw to the Canadian embassy. Alex dresses up in Chinese clothes, and the rickshaw is made up to look like it’s delivering appliances. Alex rigs up his camcorder to take video along the way. The rickshaw runs into some soldiers along the way, but they’re able to bluff their way out of it. They take shelter in a temple for the night, and approach the embassy in the morning. Shortly before arriving, they’re stopped again. The soldiers find out that Xin-Hua is a student protester, and shoot her. They take Alex into custody and take him to the airport, where he and Ted are reunited. They arrive home, and Alex’s mother comes over to talk to them. While taking off his clothes, Alex finds that he has video cassettes and rolls of film that went undetected by the soldiers. He has to decide what to do with them. He knows that he’ll never be the same after what he and his father experienced in

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