“The buffalo was still alive. I will never forget how affected I was by its long drawn-out, plaintive bellows. Under normal circumstances the bellow of a buffalo is disagreeably harsh, but on this calm late summer’s day the sound echoing through the rocky mountains was imposing and sonorous, like the roaring of a lion in a cage (93).”
Our Symbol was the Buffalo.
The two quotes show contrasting views on hope. In the first quote, the dying buffalo represents the loss of hope by Luo and the narrator. They are losing hope for getting off the “Phoenix of the Sky.” Meanwhile the second quote illustrates hope through Four-Eyes’s actions of joy when he receives the journalist job off the mountain. He was so excited to eat the buffalo because it represents his freedom from re education. Four Eyes’ hope for getting off the mountain was fulfilled.
“To us prospective thieves, the delay was harrowing, but Four-Eyes, a fresh convert to blood-drinking, was no less frustrated: we saw him jumping up and down with excitement, raising the lid of the cauldron, dipping his chopsticks into the stew, taking out a lump of steaming meat, sniffing it, inspecting it closely, and dropping it back with a disappointed shrug (95).”
How does the buffalo symbolize hope for the villagers?
ReplyDeleteAlso, the killing of the buffalo might represent intellectual liberty because the villagers go against the ideals of the cultural revolution by killing the buffalo and staging it as an accident.
I like how you contrast what one situation means for three different people and show how differently they think.
ReplyDeleteWhen do you think the Narrator truly had lost hope. Is that the same as the time where the loss of hope was symbolized?
ReplyDeleteThe way the main characters are compared and contrasted here is very good, and the quotes chosen were definitely relevant. I'm not sure I agree with the fact that the death of the buffalo symbolized the loss of hope of the boys, but I do agree that it symbolized Four Eyes' hope and desire to get off the mountain, to such a degree that he convinced the headman to murder a sacred buffalo.
ReplyDeleteWhat was the author probably trying to show when he described the buffalo's pain?
ReplyDeleteWhat does the first quote show us about the difference in character between the narrator and Luo versus the headman? I think the way it is explained that the narrator and Luo react one way to the slaughtering of the buffalo while the headman and Four-Eyes react differently is good, but I'm not sure a loss of hope is the right way to explain it. If so, maybe you should provide a better explanation for why they experienced a loss of hope hearing the buffalo's wails and how it connects to them getting off the mountain. This has the makings of a good analysis, but it needs more explanation and to be fleshed out more.
ReplyDelete