Boxer And Saints Quotes

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Choosing between what is moral and choosing what is right for the nation can be two quite different decisions. In the graphic novels, Boxer and Saints, Gene Luen Yang writes and illustrates the experiences that two different Chinese people have during the Boxer’s rebellion. In the Boxer’s novel, Bao is a leader of the Big Sword Society that will lead them to rebel against the foreigners who he believes is making China evil. Through the perspective of Bao, Gene Luen Yang questions should one be willing to put aside personal autonomy to defend their national identity.
Gene Luen Yang uses Bao’s justification of killing masses of innocent people and burning down a library full of Chinese history to question the extent that one is willing to put …show more content…

Bao is uncomfortable killing women and children, but he is so desperately trying to defend his national identity, he asks Lu Pai to tell him about the foreigners to help him believe that putting aside his personal autonomy and morality was the best thing for China. He is constantly thinking about keeping his morality, but in the end he chooses to be patriotic by burning the church full of women and children. Since killing women and children are immoral, Yang uses this action to ask if Bao should have kept his personality instead of being a nationalist. Bao continues to internally fight between which side he should give up to benefit China, even when the Emperor drowns him in the water for not burning the unguarded side of the Legation Quarter which was the Chinese library. In the water, he saw everyone who died for China, which made him decide to break his promise with Mei Wen, his very close friend, by burning down the library.(Boxers 312) Bao’s main goal is to get rid of the foreigners so he thought that burning a few books would be a small sacrifice for a greater goal; however he is conflicted still because

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