The forbidden books all tell stories of love, adventure, friendships and much more that is forbidden by the government; however, there is a way for their legacy to continue on through the art of storytelling. In Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Siji, two boys have to go through re-education on the Phoenix Mountain due to their high status within the community. Luo and the narrator both have an obsession with reading, but they are not able to openly express that so they satisfy themselves through storytelling. Storytelling is very significant due to the fact that it not only is education for some, but it also carries on the legacies of book that are being obliterated, and it creates a refuge for the audience.
Dai Sijie calls …show more content…
Somerset Maugham said, “To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life” which I think directly relates to the novel given that Luo and the narrator are put into a new lifestyle. They use reading to escape into a different reality, which then in return gives them yet another story that they can tell to people. Their favorite is the story of the poor flower girl that ends with a very rhetorical question that was able to “electrify an audience by mean of a perfectly time voice-over” and causes the listeners to not only think, but actually brings them to tears (40). Luo and the narrator especially disappear into the story because they must captivate an audience which requires them themselves to become a part of the story and play their role. When Luo and the narrator take on the role of each voice in the story, they take the audience with them virtually into another world, and they forget about everything else that may be taking place at the time, which indirectly plays into the idea the Maugham presents. It is indirect because he takes the idea that reading creates a hideaway; however, Luo and the narrator take Maugham’s idea and develops it into telling the story that is read for some who may not even be able to read. Therefore, everyone gets to experience this
Dai Sijie calls …show more content…
Somerset Maugham said, “To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all the miseries of life” which I think directly relates to the novel given that Luo and the narrator are put into a new lifestyle. They use reading to escape into a different reality, which then in return gives them yet another story that they can tell to people. Their favorite is the story of the poor flower girl that ends with a very rhetorical question that was able to “electrify an audience by mean of a perfectly time voice-over” and causes the listeners to not only think, but actually brings them to tears (40). Luo and the narrator especially disappear into the story because they must captivate an audience which requires them themselves to become a part of the story and play their role. When Luo and the narrator take on the role of each voice in the story, they take the audience with them virtually into another world, and they forget about everything else that may be taking place at the time, which indirectly plays into the idea the Maugham presents. It is indirect because he takes the idea that reading creates a hideaway; however, Luo and the narrator take Maugham’s idea and develops it into telling the story that is read for some who may not even be able to read. Therefore, everyone gets to experience this