Free Will In Shanghai Character Analysis

As the revolution in Shanghai develops over a relatively short period of time, the several main participants are examined, and it becomes clear that their individual levels of dedication and reasoning for supporting the revolution do not coincide. While some members are be willing to sacrifice their lives in order to further the communist insurrection, others are simply engaging in whatever acts benefit them the most. Each character is met with a series of choices and obstacles that they must confront as their plan is being put into effect. Even though mostly all immediate decisions were made of free will by the characters, their sense of free will is altered due to the movement that they are a part of, and the opinions of choices made by those …show more content…
It is during this scene that the reader first sees the clash of ideals and opinions within the mind of those participating in the revolution, and the eventual product of these influences. Throughout the scene, it is made obvious that Ch’en has strong reservations towards killing this man, and he is seen constantly trying to convince himself that this man must in fact die. Just prior to the execution Malroux writes, “To touch this motionless body was difficult as to stab a corpse, perhaps for the same reason… Ch’en could not longer even draw back, for his legs and arms had gone completely limp”(5). Despite entire control over the outcome of the situation between the two of them, Ch’en is terrified of the man and circumstances surrounding his death, to the point where his whole body has gone numb. At no point during the assassination does the sense of extreme hesitation leave Ch’en’s mind, and even the act of killing the man does not alleviate the uncertainty within him. Upon returning to the other men and giving them the news of the successful assassination, Ch’en is obsessed with the murder that has taken place at his own hands and he muses, “he could never convey to them what he felt. ‘I should never have thought it was so hard…’”. The most significant part of these inner thoughts, is not that they show confusion, but that they demonstrate that despite attempting to …show more content…
Despite what he wants from himself, he can only now see himself as the a terrorist or murderer. While the notion of death being Ch’en’s sole defining attribute becomes engrained within him, he seeks out guidance, from Gisors, once again to help understand how to live with the burden of death upon him. The parting advice given from Gisors is, “If you want to live with this…fatality; there is only one recourse: to pass it on”(59). Even though Gisors believes Ch’en to no longer have any wish to survive, and only a passion for death, Ch’en experiences a fleeting moment of humanity within the crumbling walls of a jail cell during the beginning of the revolution. As the fighting continues during the initial outbreak, Ch’en finds himself in front of a dying enemy pleading for his life. Because of the sense of connection that Ch’en feels with this man, similar to the connection that made him hesitant to assassinate originally, he feels obligated to help. As Ch’en watches he thinks, “he himself was that man bound hand and foot… Unable to do otherwise,he went towards the man, his knife in his hand, to cut his cords”(98). While his intentions are perhaps selfish, he acts upon his own inner voice and desire to accomplish what he wants to do, independent of the revolution, or the influences of the other revolutionaries. This act shows that even with