Chuan-Shen Character Analysis

Chuan-Sheng is perhaps the character that is least successful in letting go of his past and continues to let it inhibit him from taking steps to solve his problems. Unfortunately for him, he will most likely have to live with the regret of letting Tzu-chun die unloved since there is nothing he can do to change the past. Chuan-Sheng has proven to not be a very confrontational person; every time he is met with an uncomfortable situation, he takes off and goes to his haven in the public library. For example, after he musters the courage to tell Tzu-chun that he doesn’t love her anymore, he cannot bare the sight of her reaction and leaves once again.

Only after he finds out that Tzu-chun’s father has taken her away, does he start to realize how

Not only that, but also while Chuan-Sheng and Pak Hun had the choice to take it upon themselves to change the course of their own lives and therefore prevent the events that led to their “demise,” Zhenzhen, in the hands of the Japanese devils, had no other option but to succumb to their demands. It is for this reason, then, that Zhenzhen is the only character that is truly successful in making changes in how she leads her life. There are several accounts that demonstrate the magnitude of the hardships that she had to endure as a prisoner of Japanese officials. In page 136, the women near the well, who clearly had no idea of what Zhenzhen had to go through, describe her as being “worse than a prostitute” and demean her for walking with a limp. In addition, for Zhenzhen herself to say that “some things were hard to endure at the time, but when I recall them now they don’t seem like much” (Ding 143) just goes to show how void of emotions and “hardhearted” she has become; “she showed no signs of inhibition or rudeness. She did not exaggerate. She gave the impression that she had never had any complaints or sad thoughts” (Ding