“Then I was seized with an idea: I would copy out my favourite passages from Ursule Mirouët, word for word…I decided I would write directly onto the inside of my sheepskin coat…Writing on the skin of an old mountain sheep was not easy: the surface was rough and creased and, in order to squeeze as much text as possible into the available space, I had to use a minute script, which required all the concentration I could muster. By the time I had covered the entire inside of the jacket, including the sleeves, my fingers were aching so badly it felt as if the bones were broken. At last I dozed off” (58-59).
“She ended up putting your wretched coat on (which looked very good on her, I must say). She said having Balzac’s words next to her skin made her feel good, and also more intelligent” (62).
“Your coat was resting on the flat of her hands, the way a sacred object lies in the palms of the pious” (62).
The author uses the sheepskin coat written on by the narrator to convey a symbol of intellectual liberty by illustrating the way both he and the Little Chinese Seamstress wear the words as a way of quiet rebellion against the ban on books. They all realize that the words of Balzac are a new way of thinking that goes against the revolutionary ideas they are being forced to consume, and so instead look to Balzac’s words for wisdom and hope. He completely switches their philosophy on the world and what can and can’t be done, which intellectually liberates them, hence this being a symbol of intellectual liberty.
The Narrator demonstrates intellectual liberty here because he shows how impactful the modern text which he has been exposed to has affected him. He literally wants to envelope himself in Balzac’s words and put them on something more permanent than paper. Earlier in the text, it is told that right when Luo and the Narrator finished middle school, all of the books (in exception of the Little Red Book) had been destroyed, so this being the first modern book he got to read, it impacted him greatly. His writing on the sheepskin coat represents this cultural, worldly awakening, where for the first time information he was reading, taking in, and being exposed to wasn’t about Mao or the cultural revolution, which was something that had taken over his whole life.
The Narrator displays his value for knowledge by writing in the sheepskin coat. Due to the fact that the writing in the coat would be more inconspicuous, he transcribed the passages from the novel into the lining of his coat. His thirst for knowledge and his longing for intellectual liberty drove him to smuggle the forbidden literature around with him wherever he goes. During the course of his re-education, the narrator felt deprived of intellectual liberty and the pursuit of knowledge. This desperation led him to seek out sources of intellectual stimulation, which he found in the form of the Balzac novel. This provided him with entertainment and an escape from the tedium of his everyday life.
What do you think the relevance of the words being hidden on the inside of the coat is? Obviously, if they were discovered it would have negative consequence for the narrator. Outside of this, however, how does this relate to themes of intellectual liberty and how freedom of thought can not be repressed in the same way that freedom of speech can be?
ReplyDeleteFollow up question: Do you think that the narrator wrote the words and kept them as an act of quiet rebellion, or do you think he did it out of desperation to keep the words when he knew he had to return the book? Do you think it could've been both?
ReplyDeleteI think this post represents loss as well as intellectual liberty. The intellectual liberty was well described by the authors of this post, but he wrote on the coat in the first place because he was losing the book. He wanted to take a piece of what he was about to lose, and not have to forget it, instead keeping it literally close to his chest.
I love how they "wear the words as a way of quiet rebellion" and how this connects to their newfound intellectual liberty. Do you think this form of rebellion is successful?
ReplyDeleteDid the narrator even do it as a form of rebellion? Did he just do it to savor the text, rather than make a statement about how the cultural revolution will not trump his intellectual liberty?
DeleteThe commentary here is very thorough, and I like how it connects the sheepskin coat to other aspects of the novel.
ReplyDeleteIs the narrator really rebelling against Mao at this point or is the sheepskin coat more for himself than anyone else?
DeleteI liked how you used the sheepskin coat to analyze the struggles and injustices that people experienced during the Cultural Revolution.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of the narrator wearing the sheepskin as a "quiet rebellion" against Mao, but do you guys also think it's possible that the narrator wrote on the sheepskin coat for his own personal gain - so he could cherish Balzac's words?
ReplyDeleteI also see how this symbol could connect to hope in the way that the books and their words are an outlet to civilization and this newfound world of literature which allows the narrator to hold onto hope for something outside his surroundings.
I think that the narrator really wants to hold on to his intellectual liberty to actually have a novel with him, and he is trying to preserve it by keeping a forever copy with him.
ReplyDeleteI wonder, do you think his influence from Mao is truly negative still or do you think he perhaps would be grateful for the adventures he could have independently now? He did find a lot of interest and once-in-a-lifetime opportunities through this.
Do you think the sheepskin coat by itself represents anything?
ReplyDeleteThis connects to coming of age because people tend to gain intellectual liberty as they grow older and more independent. As people grow older, they tend to question the world and the world's order more and more, which contributes to intellectual liberty. Therefore, the characters gain intellectual liberty because they are coming of age, which is represented by the narrator's actions with the sheepskin coat.
I think that the narrator is expressing his intellectual liberty and defying the society laws by keeping his own copy of the novel. He is trying to preserve the little bit of culture that he has learned and obtained from reading the Western literature.
ReplyDelete