1. "'A toy from the city,' the headman continued, 'go on, burn it!'" His command galvanized the crowd. Everyone started talking atone, shouting and reaching out to out to grab the toy for the privilege of throwing it on the coals." (4)
- Philosophy of Mao's cultural revolution is evident in this quote.
- 'if you don't understand it, destroy it'
- didn't know what it was- therefore, felt threatened, thought that it was dangerous
- So eager to destroy a beautiful. innocent instrument just because it didn't explicitly conform
- intellectual liberty - cultural revolution
2. "When we were about to pass the sedan, the tailor leaned over to me, so close that I could feel his breath: "Wy-o-lin!" he bellowed, in an imitation of an English word." (23)
- emphasizes the difference between youth being reeducated and mountain people (few even knew what a violin was, and the few that did were very excited about it.)
- Western culture
Sijie uses the symbol of the violin to emphasize the tensions between the upper and lower class ideologies of life and shows how the ways of old and all the arts have been corrupted and tethered together as a problem for Mao. The violin shows the dichotomy of the upper class and lower class learning, and although he is trying to have everyone on the same plane of proletarian lifestyle, there is still a wide difference between the things that the working class and the upper classes learn and know. Intellectual liberty defines the symbol of the violin.
Do you feel like the violin could represent an anti-cultural revolution metaphor for the whole novel?
ReplyDeleteA connection to the topic of the cultural revolution is that the violin represents creativeness and, in this light, makes sure nothing can threaten it.