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The Power of a Book, the importance of reading in the formation of every individual
Florence Newspaper wishes to submit to the readers' attention this essay on the importance of reading in the formation of every individual and the role of books in intercultural communication, written by Stephanie Rokich, student at Gonzaga in Florence this year, for the Studies in Fiction course, Professor Gabriela Dragnea Horvath.
A book has the ability to transcend both time and place. It can take the reader to a different world that, although unfamiliar, presents issues that any reader can relate to in one way or another. By being able to relate to literary characters, cultural barriers dissolve and the reader may find that the world is suddenly open to thousands of possibilities that were never before imagined. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie is an excellent example of the power of a book because it demonstrates a book’s ability to entertain, to educate and to inspire the reader. Four of the characters in the novel, the narrator, his friend Luo, Four-Eyes and the Little Chinese Seamstress, are all influenced by the stories from the books they encounter. Each of them are entertained, educated and inspired by the books, but each experiences one of these aspects more than the others. Luo finds the most entertainment in the books he reads, Four-Eyes is educated, the Little Chinese Seamstress is inspired, and the narrator experiences a combination of these three effects. All come to appreciate that a book is truly a priceless treasure, and they are willing to make incredible sacrifices to read these stories, even if it means risking their lives. This shows the power of a single book.
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress takes place in China around 1968, a time when the communist regime, led by Chairman Mao, forbade all literature that was not communist propaganda. “All other books were forbidden,” says the narrator (8). Although literature was illegal during the time of the novel, the characters find a way to acquire books, which provide them with a entertainment to overcome the bleak lives they live. In the small village where the characters live, either because they were born there or sent there to be re-educated, they have little to do but work. The books they find become their only source of amusement, partly because the stories deal with topics and cultures that they have never before encountered.
Luo, the narrator’s best friend, is an example of the power a book has to entertain and amuse the reader. He has a special gift for storytelling, which he shares with the people of the village throughout the novel. Storytellers like Luo are entranced by stories and love to collect them in their minds. Luo and the narrator acquire their first book while in the village from their friend Four-Eyes. He lends them Ursule Mirouet by Balzac in return for helping him carry bags of rice. The narrator says, “On our return Four-Eyes gave us a book - a thin, worn volume. The author’s name was Balzac” (55). This seemingly modest gift opens up a new world to the boys. Upon their return to their room, Luo reads the book immediately (56-57) and later decides to share the story with the Little Chinese Seamstress because he finds it so fascinating. The boys’ ensuing thirst for more books leads them to eventually steal books from Four-Eyes (98-105). After stealing the books, the boys are “seduced, overwhelmed, spellbound by the mystery of the outside world, especially the world of women, love and sex as revealed to us by these Western writers day after day, page after page, book after book” (109). The stories open their eyes because they are exposed to these themes for the first time in their lives.
Books serve a greater purpose than simply entertaining the reader; they also provide a myriad of knowledge on every subject imaginable. Four-Eyes shows how one can use books to learn. He has a secret suitcase full of books from his family, which the narrator describes as “a little worn but made of fine leather, and it gave off a whiff of civilization” (48-49). Four-Eyes’ mother is a famous poet, and his father is a writer. They clearly values books as an educational tool because they knowingly risk getting into trouble by giving him the books. Four-Eyes realizes how precious his secret stash is and that, if caught by the authorities, he may never get to leave the little village and return home. When the narrator and Luo suspect that the suitcase contains forbidden books, Four-Eyes buys a lock and hides the suitcase (49). The information in the books may help Four-Eyes have a good career when he is older, and he wants to keep his wealth of information to himself.
A book’s ability to inspire is one of its greatest qualities. In the novel, the Little Chinese Seamstress best exemplifies this power. Before being exposed to literature, she was a simple village girl who could not read. Then Luo decides to read Balzac to her so that she will become more refined and civilized. At once she is mesmerized by the story. It stirs something deep within her that causes a change that even she seems unaware of initially. Luo says, “This fellow Balzac is a wizard. He touched the head of this mountain girl with an invisible finger, and she was transformed, carried away in a dream. It took a while for her to come down to earth” (62). She becomes so fascinated with the story that she suggests that the boys steal books from Four-Eyes when he refuses to give them any more because she thinks the books are worth the risk (89).
The Little Chinese Seamstress is so inspired by the characters in the books she encounters that she wants to change her life. She begins to act differently. When she and Luo go swimming in a secluded area, she says, “The books Luo read to me always made me want to dive into the cool water of the mountain torrent” (143). She also dresses differently by wearing a brassiere and modern clothing including white tennis shoes and a stylish jacket (178-79). Luo says, “Her latest obsession is to be like a city girl” (178). At the end of the novel, the boys visit her father and find out that she has fled the village (176-84). The books had such a strong impact on her that she was no longer satisfied with her simple life and wanted to become a part of the desirable world she read about. The narrator says, “The lovely, unsophisticated mountain girl had vanished without a trace” (179).
Luo, Four-Eyes and the Little Chinese Seamstress each find their own way to relate to the books they encounter throughout the novel. Luo, the storyteller, is entertained by the words he reads, Four-Eyes is educated and hopes to find a career related to writing, and the Little Chinese Seamstress is inspired to change her life and follow her dreams. The narrator, however, exemplifies the power of books to affect the reader in all three ways. He finds value in all aspects of the books he reads and, therefore, is most changed by them.
Before the boys confirm what is in Four-Eyes’ suitcase, they suspect that it contains books. They imagine which Chinese classics it contains (50) and wonder if it could hold Western literature (51-52). They become obsessed with figuring it out. As they guess which titles are contained in the suitcase, the narrator says, “Book title poured from our lips, the mysterious and exotic names evoking unknown worlds” (51). They are so eager to read that they offer to help Four-Eyes carry heavy loads of rice long distances in exchange for a single novel, indicating how valuable books are. When they are rewarded with one of Balzac’s books, the narrator is in awe and wonders why Four-Eyes choose this particular book:
Did Four-Eyes stop to think about which book he would lend us? Or was it a random choice? Perhaps he picked it simply because, of all the treasures in his precious suitcase, it was the thinnest book, and the most decrepit. Did he have ulterior motives which we could not fathom? Whatever his reasons, his choice was to have a profound effect on our lives. (56)
This look into the narrator’s thought process shows how the book represents much more than a story. Not only is he eager to read it and enjoy the story, but he is also interested in the motivation behind the gift. He sees the book as a precious object that holds a wealth of information and emotion. He realizes its power to change his life, so he ponders how he came to possess it and the impact it will have.
After Luo finishes the book that night, he gives it to the narrator. The narrator neither eats nor sleeps because he is so enthralled by the story. He says:
Picture, if you will, a boy of nineteen, still slumbering in the limbo of adolescence, having heard nothing but revolutionary blather all his life, falling headlong into a story of awakening desire, passion, impulsive action, love, of all the subjects that had, until then, been hidden from me. (57)
The book takes the narrator to another place where the themes of romance and independence are in stark contrast to the censored material he has been brainwashed by that never allowed for free thought or expression. He is overcome by this new world at his fingertips and the “power of the words” (57).
The narrator copies favorite passages of the book onto his coat (58). When Luo and the narrator need more books and decide to steal them from Four-Eyes, they risk getting into an enormous amount of trouble and ruining their chances of ever leaving the village. However, they take the risk, and the reward is greater than they could imagine. “I took the novels out of the suitcase one by one, opened them, studied the portraits of the authors, and passed them on to Luo. Brushing them with the tips of my fingers made me feel as if my pale hands were in touch with human lives,” he says (99). Although they are thrilled to have more to read, the boys are upset that they have been deprived of these precious objects for so long.
The narrator falls in love with each of the books and their authors, and says he will remember the stories for the rest of his life. In particular, Jean-Christophe has an immense impact on him by teaching him about the joys of becoming an individual and making decisions for himself. He says “Up until this stolen encounter with Romain Rolland’s hero, my poor educated and re-educated brains had been incapable of grasping the notion of one man standing up against the whole world” (110). He has a new outlook on life and wonders how he can die without ever knowing things like love, sex and freedom. He is “filled with the desire to live” (114).
The power of the book is a prominent theme in Balzac and the Chinese Seamstress and can be seen through three distinct aspects of entertainment, education and inspiration. Luo, Four-Eyes and the Little Chinese Seamstress relate to the books they encounter in one of these ways more than the others, but the narrator is greatly impacted in each way. He is entertained by stories like Ursule Mirouet, educated about love and freedom by Jean-Christophe, and inspired by all the stories to seek a different life. Although he does not take the drastic step of leaving the village like the Little Chinese Seamstress, he makes a change within himself that stays with him for years to come, and perhaps his entire life. This change was all due to the power of a book.
Works Cited
Sijie, Dai, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. 2002. Anchor Books.
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