Essay On Balzac And The Little Chinese Seamstress

The novel Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie contains an examination of power and its limitations, especially as it relates to attempts to control others. Power is a multifaceted thing, and people have power over others in some ways while lacking it others. The novel takes place during the Cultural Revolution, and the Chinese government attempts to use its power to shape people and society as it sees fit. Luo and the narrator are expected to submit to the process of re-education and the village headman who leads it. However, they are also capable of using their education and urban background to counter this power and to even gain power over him. Likewise, they attempt to mold the Seamstress to fit their desires, but she ultimately …show more content…
As a result, he is utterly terrified when Luo mentions Motzart (5). However, the village headman believes Luo, but this does not make them entirely free from the control of the village headman despite their feelings of superiority. When they read books to the tailor, he overhears them and threatens to turn them in to the Security Office for punishment unless they are capable of taking care of his rotten tooth (130). Yet even in this moment the balance of power is somewhat ambiguous; the headman relies on Luo and the narrator to take care of his tooth (130). Additionally, the narrator takes the opportunity to torture the headman by drilling as slowly as possible in order to retaliate for the way he has treated them (134). In this instance, the narrator and Luo are capable of wielding power against the headman just as the headman holds power over them. This highlights the complexity of power relations, as power exists in multiple forms. The headman’s power is constructed formally through his association with the Communist government whereas the narrator and Luo have informal power from their ability to harm him with the promise of eventual relief from his