Discovery is a powerful discourse, it’s a universal act that allows an individual and society to affirm or challenges their beliefs, ideas, rebuild a deeper understanding or renew perceptions. Discovery, therefore, has clearly been vital for society globally and has produced progress for all people in society. This concept has been represented through the novel The China Coin by Allan Baillie and the epistolary novel The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. Through the language features the composers have shown that any act of discovery can lead to a personal transformation, enabling people to mature and deeper their understanding of themselves.
By exploring the adolescent life through the eyes of the protagonists, Baillie and …show more content…
This notion is explored in The China Coin through Leah’s process of discovery. By using the first person and strong exaggerated tone at the beginning, “I am being kidnapped by an evil aunt…” the reader can sympathise with Leah when she was forced to go to China and her condescending opinion of China as a backwards culture. The use of flashback highlights the perspective of Leah about her identity, “Leah stopped combing...” She sees “Dad’s nose, Dad’s freckles…” the mirror symbolises Leah’s reflection of the lack of her Chinese identity and the use of descriptive language portrays the European look of Leah, revealing the attitude of Leah toward her Chinese heritage and she only approves the European features from her Dad. Through the journey of discovery, Leah interacts with people, with her family and with a different culture and that changes her perspective. Obviously Leah accepts Joan’s family as her family now and begins to perceive that her mother has experienced racism from the”mob”. Lately, she accepts herself as partly Chinese, “No, you’re not Chinese, but you’re not not Chinese either”, the internal monologue and double negative help to clearly see that Leah no longer has a conflict with being seen as Chinese, she has discovered her identity and acknowledges …show more content…
By writing letters, the first person is used to give the reader the narrator's point of view, to have an intimate look into his life, his thoughts, feelings and his unstable mental state. Similar to The China Coin, this novel also starts with a depressing event, “I regret to inform you that one of our students has passed on.” this flashback reflected Charlie’s strong feelings when he hears about his best friend’s death. The use of descriptive words such as “screaming,”, “crying even harder” helps to sympathise with Charlie’s loss. Even though Charlie is having a bad time, he decides to move on, ‘I’m still trying to figure out how that could be”, this monologue gives the reader the knowledge that Charlie is constantly in search of a greater understanding just like Leah. The monologue “It would be very nice to have a friend again” shows Charlie’s desire to interact with people, unlike Leah, who, after losing her father, becomes an enemy of her mother. By interacting with new friends, Charlie starts to experience new things such as drugs, alcohol and sexuality, those experiences help him to overcome his past so that he realises that he is not “a wallflower”, that the action of people in the past doesn’t define who he is and he can be anything he wants to be “we don’t have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there”. Through the
By exploring the adolescent life through the eyes of the protagonists, Baillie and …show more content…
This notion is explored in The China Coin through Leah’s process of discovery. By using the first person and strong exaggerated tone at the beginning, “I am being kidnapped by an evil aunt…” the reader can sympathise with Leah when she was forced to go to China and her condescending opinion of China as a backwards culture. The use of flashback highlights the perspective of Leah about her identity, “Leah stopped combing...” She sees “Dad’s nose, Dad’s freckles…” the mirror symbolises Leah’s reflection of the lack of her Chinese identity and the use of descriptive language portrays the European look of Leah, revealing the attitude of Leah toward her Chinese heritage and she only approves the European features from her Dad. Through the journey of discovery, Leah interacts with people, with her family and with a different culture and that changes her perspective. Obviously Leah accepts Joan’s family as her family now and begins to perceive that her mother has experienced racism from the”mob”. Lately, she accepts herself as partly Chinese, “No, you’re not Chinese, but you’re not not Chinese either”, the internal monologue and double negative help to clearly see that Leah no longer has a conflict with being seen as Chinese, she has discovered her identity and acknowledges …show more content…
By writing letters, the first person is used to give the reader the narrator's point of view, to have an intimate look into his life, his thoughts, feelings and his unstable mental state. Similar to The China Coin, this novel also starts with a depressing event, “I regret to inform you that one of our students has passed on.” this flashback reflected Charlie’s strong feelings when he hears about his best friend’s death. The use of descriptive words such as “screaming,”, “crying even harder” helps to sympathise with Charlie’s loss. Even though Charlie is having a bad time, he decides to move on, ‘I’m still trying to figure out how that could be”, this monologue gives the reader the knowledge that Charlie is constantly in search of a greater understanding just like Leah. The monologue “It would be very nice to have a friend again” shows Charlie’s desire to interact with people, unlike Leah, who, after losing her father, becomes an enemy of her mother. By interacting with new friends, Charlie starts to experience new things such as drugs, alcohol and sexuality, those experiences help him to overcome his past so that he realises that he is not “a wallflower”, that the action of people in the past doesn’t define who he is and he can be anything he wants to be “we don’t have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there”. Through the