In the novel ‘Rebel Girl’ by Susan Geason, the protagonist, Su-Yin is a strong, round character. She experiences abounding hardships when the Taiping Rebellion invade Nanjing in mid-18th century China. Su-Yin had to take on the imperative responsibility of caring for Li-Lin, a young orphan whose family had been killed.
The Taiping Rebellion caused great amounts of conflict that severely impacted the life of Su-Yin. She was left to take care of Li-Lin as her family in Nanjing were all mercilessly murdered by the Taiping soldiers. For example, after the invasion, Su-Yin was left without a job. The Chun household and other staff that she worked for ran away to their families or were murdered by the relentless soldiers. The now, treacherous city of Nanjing has left a vast amount of carnage and Su-Yin deliberating about the grieving families that remain. This external conflict has left her full of terror. In the novel, Su-Yin states ‘Our lives might be better under the Taiping.’ (Page 89) as she realises that her life with the Taiping has turned out unexpected. The impact of the
…show more content…
She could see the community around her fall apart which clearly affected her. For example, Su-Yin took on the responsibility of Li-Lin, which was only possible if she was stronger and not fearful. She is unable to feel safe as the Taiping makes her feel precarious because of the sudden invasion. Su-Yin can see the community around her slowly collapsing. This affects her because the Taiping have left all of the surviving citizens traumatised. They have lost their loved ones and are now being separated from their families. Su-Yin’s response to the Taiping Rebellion changed her personality as she had to become stronger to survive the dreaded incursion. This greatly affected Su-Yin because she could see the once, festive community of Nanjing, slowly
Her mom returned and her family become one again. "I was so happy we had finally crossed, me and Yinchuan had almost died trying to cross" (Choi 161). This affected her the
Xiong uses battles, executions, assassinations, and scandals to appeal to readers of any genre. Once a reader gets into the book they are hooked in the epic events of the book and the deep look into the ruling class. Unfortunately, Xiong’s novel might somewhat difficult to get into for many readers with no experience in Chinese history. Xiong also attempts to utilize dialogue that often comes off as underdeveloped or simplistic.
Li Xiu Ying was the few survivors during the cause of Nanking Massacre on December 1937. She was stabbed 37 times, and miraculously survived, becoming the most powerful witness of that tragic history. Li Xiu Ying has been using her personal experience to expose the atrocities of those Japanese invaders. She was 19 years old and seven month pregnant when the attack happened, causing her to not be able to flee, so she together with her father hid in the Nanking International Safety Zone which is under the Mountain Elementary School. But the Japanese Soldiers broke in and attempts to rape her, and while fighting back, she was stabbed, and after those soldier left, her father managed to send her to the Nanking Golou Hospital.
The Empress was a corrupt, conservative and power driven leader, her regime disempowered the dynasty and left it brittle and vulnerable consequently leading to its demise, therefore to large extent the Empress is responsible for the demise of the Qing dynasty. The once great Qing dynasty had encountered and was suffering from new unfamiliar threats (C) which left the Empress with the decision of modernising and renovating the dynasty so that it could successfully cope with new difficulties or leaving things as was, resisting foreign influence and continuing with policies her predecessors successfully implemented (D) The
Youqing voices his opinion after Fugui explains to him that “[they have] given Fengxia away to somebody else to save money so he could go to school . . . he [screams] through his tears, ‘I’m not going to school, I want Sis!’” (Yu 92). This serves as a reflection of China under
Suyuan’s American Dream starts in her heart when she decides to escape from the chaotic China and find a better life by immigrating to America. However, she loses her two babies on the way to Chungking. American Dream means different things for different people. Suyuan has fulfilled her American Dream in a certain degree by trying to provide her daughters with successful, blissful and better lives. First of all, Suyuan left Kweilin for Chungking in order to find her husband and avoid the Japanese.
In The Joy Luck Club, written by Amy Tan, we are introduced to Suyuan and her daughter Jing-Mei “June” Woo. As with any relationship, there is conflict between Suyuan Woo and her daughter, as it seems that Jing-Mei doesn’t understand her mother’s Chinese culture and ambitions. In the Chinese culture, women are seen as inferior and often lack basic rights such as the right to marriage or financial holdings, thus deprived of their potential. This is why the rights in the U.S. are seen as privileges to Chinese women, among other minorities, and why Suyuan endeavored for her daughter to become a prodigy and excel in anything and everything. Yet as Jing-Mei was forced into this ideal, and the more her mother tried to enforce this idea, the further she begun to despise her mother for attempting to turn her into a “fraud”.
Her concern is presented in the novel when it says “ ‘concern Ive had for Choy Fuk’.. Mui Lan always Gripped the life out of happiness … ‘How will we get another through immigration with this devil authorities treading on the Tang people's heads all the time’” ( Lee 29-30). As a result of, seeing her son go through the struggles of a failing marriage, her shadow comes into play. Also, due to the ban of the Chinese immigrants, this discrimination is the turning point in both her journey to individuation, and her
She consistently felt pressured to disown her own family and alter the lifestyle so familiar to her. At school, Ji Li was even encouraged to turn against her own father, later leading Ji Li to wonder if she should love her family. The attempts at destroying the sense of pride held for one’s family in order to embrace new ideologies truly showed toxicity of the cause Chairman Mao created. The wellbeing of those under the rule of Mao Ze-dong was at extreme risk, due to the conniving actions of those around
Du Fu’s poems mirror this despair that he lived through and told a story on the surface but there was more meaning underneath. In “A Song of My Cares When Going from the Capital to Fengxian”, Du Fu describes a journey where he is trying to escape the destruction of the rebellion only to find that it was everywhere. Through the poem, he uses the harshness of the journey as an analogy of the ruin of his country that he once thought could protect him and was wealthy but ultimately ended up failing him.
Her intentions are not meant for heartbreaks, but for the well-being of her babies. Support Point # 2- Suyuan’s top priority is to educate Jing-mei as ideal daughter; however, high expectations are difficult to achieve causing problems and leading bitterness into the relationship. Support Point
In the words of Jing-Mei in the last line of the story, “Together we look like our mother. Her same eyes, her same mouth, open in surprise to see, at last, her long-cherished wish” (Tan 159). Throughout her life, Suyuan, their mother, held onto the hope that she would see her daughters again. In this hope, she named Jing-Mei in connection to her sisters, keeping the “long-cherished wish” that someday her daughters would reconcile and complete their family circle. The occasion that
The fall of Hong Kong gives this couple some spaces to live together, to have an ordinary life. As the poem from the Book of Song says, humans are not able to control all the events, "but through natural turns of events and against all expectations" (Louie 23), the couple holds each other 's hands and gets married. Chang gives the story rather a happy ending, Fan Liuyuan is able to marry the woman he loves, and Liusu gets remarried, she gains back her social status. However, many scholars question that if wealth and social status are all Liusu desires. She achieves what the society expects of her, but maybe this is not what she desires in her deepest heart.
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.
Bare survival was the major struggle for many at the bottom of the society and injustice was more than common. And contrary to many people’s expectations, the Republic of China did not dramatically change the situation. Although modern democratic political institutions were introduced, the regime was highly corrupted and incompetent in consolidating power or stabilizing economy. In F arewell My Concubine, we see undisciplined soldiers in opera house, easily bribed judge and acquittal based on a general’s short notice instead of sound evidence. Changes did happen, but there was also remarkable consistency in people’s