Comments for World Literature, 1650-Present

Comment on About by Colway

Colway — Wed, 23 May 2012 21:30:21 +0000

I have the same problem :/

Comment on About by Zmarszczki

Zmarszczki — Wed, 23 May 2012 21:09:12 +0000

I’m waiting for more information.

Comment on Extra Credit “Love in a Fallen City” by robert.papillo

robert.papillo — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 16:43:13 +0000

In response to Q1) My perception of Liusu in the beginning of the story was that she was a “powder keg”, ready to explode with one more little push. She was a quiet, isolated member of the family who when we first meet her is knitting alone in the corner of the room. Other members of the family saw her as burdensome and would talk at her and about her as if she didn’t matter. All of this treatment led to feelings that were being bottled up inside her, and when the whole situation regarding her living as a free rider in the house came up, she snapped. So to answer the question, I think she had a hidden aggression that was indeed a product of her treatment from her family.

Comment on Extra Credit: Questions for “Love in a Fallen City” by katsiaryna.kurylovich

katsiaryna.kurylovich — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 00:58:47 +0000

Q2. The ralationship between Luisu and Liuyuan is seems not to strong to me at this point. “If, at that time, we can meet at this wall, then maybe, Liusu, you will honestly care about me, and I will honestly care about you.” Fan expressed his feeling that they did not love each other truly at the moment. He used to have many dreams about his motherland China but he found all the things about China just disappointed him. Later in the text he talked to Liusu “I know you’re not happy. You’ve certainly seen more than enough of these awful people, and awful things, all around us.”I feel like he thought that Luisu had the same feeling as him and treated her as a real friend who can understand and comfort him. Maybe he also found some characteristics of mother on Bai which made him feel warm and easy. All the things he did have reasons so he tried his best efforts to make Liusu understand him.Maybe he had not loved Liusu so deeply, but at least he wanted her sincerely.

Comment on Extra Credit: Questions for “Love in a Fallen City” by Ambrose

Ambrose — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 00:24:14 +0000

Q1: I personally don’t take offense to the statement, and I’ve been raised in a dominantly American culture. I also don’t think the sentence is supposed to be offensive in general either. Liuyuan’s statement is his character’s preference in women, and is only meant to further his character profile in the story. Chang is demonstrating a shift/difference in the Chinese culture, and how a man who was raised in a western culture longed for something different than what he was accustomed to. Liuyuan, a man who had many women willing to marry him, still preferred Liusu for her traditional Chinese ways. As described in Chang’s introduction on page 2736, Liuyuan has “come back to China in search of an old China of his imagination.”. He finds this in Liusu – it is not a matter of him or Chang trying to offend the reader. I interpreted “real” Chinese women as a contrast to a newer generation of Chinese women, while I believe you interpreted it as a difference in culture/race.

Comment on Extra Credit “Love in a Fallen City” by daria.cavalli

daria.cavalli — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 20:49:38 +0000

I feel the commentary and themes made by Zhang Ailing throughout ‘Love in a Fallen City,’ are subtle yet still extremely prevalent. Chinese society during this time period viewed the institution of marriage as just that, an institution, something like a business contract made between both partners with complete discard of emotions and feelings. Through dialogue between the members of the Bai family, the reader can see the tactical thought and decision making processes the family employed when marrying off their sons and daughters. Financial security and status were two main factors that drove the execution of a marriage. The reader can see how essential marriage was to a female’s security for life when Fourth Mistress says (2741) “…in times like these I have to think of their needs too. I’ve got a conscience, and I have to think of them- can’t weigh them down and drive them into poverty.” Here she is implying that marrying a daughter off to the right companion is the difference between a life of comfort and security, and a life of poverty and misery. Fourth Mistress also seems to hint at the shame Lisu brought onto her family when she decided to divorce her first husband when she says “Is divorce such an easy thing, that you can get divorced anytime you want?” Similarly, Liuyuan’s view on marriage is not one that is portrayed as full of love, admiration and emotion. Because of the nature of Liuyuan’s upbringing he came to view woman as “just the mud under his feet.” Liuyuan’s mother and father were never officially married, which could have only added to the notion that marriage was not a sound and wholesome institution. After the death of his father, Liuyuan became legally recognized as heir, inheriting his father’s money and further increasing his appeal and enchantment with young girls. The Bai family took notice of this and immediately began to scheme and figure out which daughter they felt would be the best fit for him. Their plotting further implies the customary attitude held by the Chinese culture during the time period. Social status and the financial backings that came with the institution of marriage far surpassed any kind of emotional or intimate attachment a husband and wife had for one another. The sentiments that a contemporary society associates with marriage were not of the same importance to a traditional Chinese society.

Comment on Extra Credit- Love In A Fallen City by Lynn Trinh

Lynn Trinh — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 18:28:37 +0000

Question 3.
Mrs. Xu wants to let Liusu know that her husband has a lot of friends in Hong Kong; therefore, Liusu does not need to worry if she can not find a guy who matches to her. Mrs. Xu also adds, “distant water cannot put out the nearby fire”. She wants to show that she really wants to help Liusu find her match; however, it is hard for her to do so if Luisu consists on staying in Shanghai. Mrs Xu tries to persuade Luisu have to go to Hong Kong with them if she really wants to find a guy with the notion that being long distance cannot create the relationship effectively. Mrs. Xu utilizes the images of “distant water” and “nearby fire” to emphasize her thought about how to have a real relationship. She believes that being faraway each other is very hard for people to be in love. She suggests people should be closed by to build up their relationship sincerely. Love cannot work out in distance. Although it is not necessary to believe so, and it is not so right for all love circumstances, I strongly agree with Mrs. Xu’s idea is that distant love can neither maintain properly nor last long forever easily.

Comment on Love in a Fallen City Extra Credit by salman.khushnood

salman.khushnood — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 05:40:55 +0000

Question#2
The reason Chang uses large amounts of references to nature is to show the search for Liyuans identity. I believe Chang makes her characters curious and wanting to live by a certain standard. The nature references are given in such detail and that shows the dept and curiosity in Liyuan in this case. The irregularly placed green tea leaves form something beautiful looking like a flourishing plaintain tree. And the leaves at the bottom compliment the representing nature reference. The irregular patterns may represent the different experiences and trials a character may go through. The detailed appealing nature reference represents what could be. The author wants the sense to keep searching for progress in her story alive.

Comment on Extra credit Love in a fallen city by christopher.clemente

christopher.clemente — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 04:31:26 +0000

Answer to Question 2:

Historically, marriage has had different significance to different peoples and different cultures and different economic conditions. The mechanism of marriage differs from culture to culture, where in some places in Africa the would-be husbands actually purchase their wives from girl’s father. The suitor and the father go through a whole negotiation process. There are still arraigned marriages in the Far East, in countries such as India where the fathers pick their children’s spouses. In very affluent cultures and especially in monarchies marriages are most assuredly approved according to social and financial standings.

In this story, the idea of the “marriage trade” is more indicative of the upper social class. One of the focuses of the Bai family was for the siblings to get married into a family of social status because it is in some way imputed to that family. So, in some ways the Bai family would give up a daughter and would get social status in return. Therefore, a trade between families would a marriage make.

Comment on Extra Credit- Love in a Fallen City by robert.papillo

robert.papillo — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 02:42:56 +0000

Referring to Question 2: The same thing was bouncing around in my head endlessly. Throughout the novel she goes back and forth with feelings of uncertainty on whether or not this man is legitimate. When she was finally convinced that he truly loved her, everything seemed at ease and they shared this first encounter. Upon reading that the next morning he says he is going away for a year I became very confused. I was under the impression that he was a great actor, and did take Liusu for a fool. However upon his return for her during the bombings, and their eventual marriage it is clear that my opinion swayed yet again, now in favor of his legitimacy. This is a very loaded question and it is definitely up for much interpretation.