Sijie uses the symbol of the sheepskin coat to represents the Little Seamstress, Luo, and the narrator’s hunger for knowledge about the ideas of love, passion, and desire illustrated in the western literature, more specifically Ursule Mirouët by Balzac. The new ideas in the book exposes the characters to different aspects in life that they have not been exposed to before. The book introduces a new way of life different to their own which they strive to “reenact” in real life amongst each other.
“I decided I would write directly onto the inside of my sheepskin coat. The short coat, a gift from the villagers when I arrived, was made of skins with wool of varying lengths and textures on the outside and bare hide on the inside”(58).
“‘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).
Was the sheepskin coat the first taste of Western Literature that the Little Chinese Seamstress had? If so, do you think that it catalyzed her desire to become like a city girl?
ReplyDeleteA) How can this symbol relate to coming of age more?
ReplyDeleteB) This symbol connects to the topic of love, passion, and desire. Since the narrator loves the books that he was reading, out of passion and desire to keep the book, he wrote in on a sheepskin coat.
1. How did the sheepskin coat and it being given to the Little Seamstress by Luo show how he tried to change her to become more "westernized"?
ReplyDelete2. This shows the yearning for knowledge as the sheepskin coat with the writings of Balzac on the inside showed the passion that the narrator had for the books and the contents inside, and he wanted to keep the words, not the materialistic book itself, but the words and ideas close with him at all times.
Does writing on the sheepskin coat represent anything? You talk about the impact that the book has but not really what the coat has other than stating that it was used as an object to write the words on. I think this "new way of lie" that you talk about in the last sentence relates to the end of this book where the Little Chinese Seamstress runs away to the city because she says she wants to change her way of life.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought about the coat representing a new way of life that the characters lead that bring them on the path of growing up, that was a really interesting connection! How do you think the story would've progressed had the Little Chinese Seamstress not taken an interest in literature- would she have stayed?
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree that the three did try to "reenact" the books in real life. The coat also represents the hunger for knowledge when the narrator shows it to the gynecologist in the hospital. What do you think the narrator did with the coat after the Little Seamstress ran away?
ReplyDeleteNice, I never thought about the words of Ursule Mirouët by Balzac representing different things in life they haven't been exposed to. I always thought it of the words about Balzac just sharing a relevance to the characters, especially because the story of the book being so similar to the character's positions in society.
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