The Little Chinese Seamstress

1) How is the power of imagination a major theme of the story?

Exiled from city life and forced to live far away in the distant mountains because of the Cultural Revolution, Luo and his friend soon became exhausted and bored. However, the boys managed to spice up their lives by reading forbidden books and retelling stories to the villagers. By reading books they imagined themselves in exciting places and times far from the dreary mountainside village and away from the realities of the Cultural Revolution. Their imaginative storytelling and reenactment of films opened new relationships with villagers and sparked their romance with the beautiful Little Seamstress. The imaginative power of romance, love, and miracles surprises the boys and leads to unexpected consequences.

The creative film reenactments of Luo and his friend not only uplifted their minds, but brought excitement into the lives of the villagers including the village leader, the Little Seamstress, and the sorceresses. Luo and his friend transfixed their audiences and could move them to tears of sadness or joy. The power of the imaginary scenes and romantic plays filled the audience’s minds with wonder. “By the time we, or rather he, reached the end of the story, in the allotted time, our audience was ecstatic.” The boy’s adventure with the Little Seamstress began when the village leader, enthusiastic about their stories, sent them to her village.

Luo, his friend, the Little Seamstress, and several other characters constantly read or listened to the forbidden stories to relax and escape reality. Often Luo and his friend would stay up reading all night deep in the fantasies of the forbidden stories. “I was carried away, swept along by the mighty stream of words pouring from the hundreds of pages.” Reading the stories comforted them and gave them a sense of freedom from their dull life of exile. By reading the forbidden books, the boys could imagine themselves at home. “By the end of the day I was feeling quite at home in Nemours, imagining myself posted by the smoking hearth of her parlour in the company of doctors and curates.”

The wonderful stories Luo told and read to the Little Seamstress delighted and enchanted her so much that she fell in love with him. Her father, the tailor, was also awed and influenced by the boy’s stories. “Inevitably, some of the details he picked up from the French story started to have a discreet influence on the clothes he was making for the villagers. Dumas would have been most surprised to see the mountain men sporting sailor tops with square collars that flapped in the breeze.” Unfortunately, Luo and his friend underestimated the power of their stories and were unaware of the consequences that would result. “Or, quite simply, had we ourselves failed to grasp the essence of the novels we had read to her?” Ironically, the Little Seamstress fell in love because of their story telling, but she also left them because their story telling made her long for city life. The Little Seamstress’s desire to become a city girl grew stronger than her love for Luo and his friend. Her desire became too tempting and she surprised them by leaving to an imaginary world of city life.

Othello Test

Othello, the tragic hero, is partly responsible for the tragedy. However, without the other characters, their human weaknesses, and their interactions with Othello, the tragedy would never have come about. Because of their relationships with Othello and their respective personalities, the tragedy inevitably occurs. Reacting to Othello, Iago and Roderigo are fueled by jealousy and the need for revenge. Their subsequent actions cause Othello to suffer constantly from jealousy, thus beginning the tragedy. Fueled by jealousy and hatred, Othello and several of the characters are blinded to their unwise decisions. Other characters are motivated by kindness and love, but also suffer by their relationship with Othello.

Iago, the brilliant villain, manipulates most of the characters including the almighty Othello. Outraged by being dismissed by Othello, Iago relentlessly seeks revenge by making Othello jealous of his wife. “Till I am even’d with him, wife for wife,/ Or failing so, yet that I put the Moor/ At least into a jealousy so strong/ That judgment cannot cure.” Often called “honest Iago,” he cleverly controls others and creates a circle of jealousy. Iago is evil and easily understands human weakness. He realizes that Othello’s soul is so “enfetter’d to her love,/ That she may make, unmake, do what she list…With his weak function.” Because Iago recognizes Othello's weakness for Desdemona, Iago falsely convinces Othello that Desdemona has been unfaithful.

Roderigo is the most foolish person in the play. His heart is sad and his judgment is severely impaired because Othello has married Desdemona. Because of this marriage, Roderigo is eager to get revenge. Jealous of Othello, Roderigo feels helpless and relies on Iago for advice. Roderigo suffers because all his efforts to win Desdemona are in vain. His money is spent and he becomes severely depressed. “I will incontinently drown myself.” Roderigo’s decision to carry out Iago’s evil plans eventually lead to his tragic death.

Desdemona suffers from Othello’s actions because she is charged for sins she has not committed. She longs for Othello’s love, but Othello, blinded by his false jealousy does not return the affection. Othello’s trust for Desdemona slowly fades. The honest and kind Desdemona suffers harsh treatment from Othello. Even though she is mistreated, she stays loyal to Othello. “I never did/ Offend you in my life; never loved Cassio/ But with such general warranty of heaven/ As I might love: I never game him token.” Othello never acknowledged her innocence and calls her a whore. Desdemona’s life was tragic because her kindness inevitably led her to death. Othello’s jealousy ultimately causes the good fall of Desdemona. While she dies, she exclaims that nobody killed her but herself “Nobody; I myself. Farewell/ Commend me to my kind lord: O, farewell!”

“Tis frailty that thus errs?” The human weakness of each character and their relationship to Othello contributed to the unfolding of the tragedy. Because of Iago’s lies, Othello mistakenly believes Desdemona is unfaithful and murders her. Even though Desdemona was honest and tried to care for Othello, her very innocence ended up fulfilling Iago’s horrific plan for revenge. “And out of her own goodness make the net/ That shall enmesh them all.” The irony of the play is both deep and unforgiving.

Evil Blog

I believe that everybody is born the same. No one is born evil. I think environment influences people's evil behavior. People who witness robberies, rapes, and murders, are more likely to copy these evil actions and behave violently. People who live in the middle of nowhere are more likely to be peaceful and less violent. I believe evil actions are learned. Many people base their actions on their surroundings and what they observe other people doing. Certain people might act cruel because their friends are being mean and they want to fit in with their peer groups. Boys are more likely to be intentionally harmful because they want to feel tough and in control. Many people have more opportunities to be evil than others. Bullies seek any chance they get to bother somebody and be annoying. Some people are born with power and therefore have plenty of opportunities to be cruel are are more likely to be cruel. Others are born to a lower status and being evil might only generate more problems. These people are more likely to be kind because being nice has rewarded them in past experiences.

Why love is complex

When I hear the word love I first think of two people getting married. They are happy because they have found true love. I also think of loving your family. Parents loving their children and their siblings. Love can be comforting, but can also be harmful. Constantly wanting people to love you and being overly obsessed with them can be painful. For example in Song of Solomon, Hagar is crazy over Milkman. When Milkman leaves her, she falls apart. She is desperate for love and as a result she is miserable.

I believe there are different degrees of love. The love for your family will probably be the strongest. Next might be the love for your friends and the people in your neighborhood. People show deep love for their pets as well. "Dog is a man's best friend." Love does not have to be for humans or animals, but for activities such as sports. Most of the time I love playing soccer. Soldiers fight because they love their country. They are proud to fight for their people.

Love is often unclear, hidden, and paradoxical. Many children love their parents, but hate them at the same time. Siblings are always getting into fights. Brothers may claim they hate their sisters, but deep down inside they know they love each other.

Problems as a teenager

I often receive little respect from adults because I'm a teenager. Teenage boys are thought of as mischievous and always creating trouble. Whenever I'm with my friends and we go into a convenient store, the managers give us dirty looks because they assume that we are thinking about shoplifting. Having a conversation with an adult can be difficult. Because I'm younger, adults think that I am not old enough to understand certain topics and quickly change the subject. I hate this because even though I might not understand what they are talking about, I may want to hear what they have to say. Another problem that I have when talking to adults is being accused of not paying attention. When someone makes a statement and not a question, I usually don't say anything or respond with a yes or no. Just because I have laconic replies doesn't mean I wasn't paying attention.

Another problem I have learned as a teenager is that life is not fair. When younger siblings complain to their parents that they have been abused by their older siblings, the result is immediate punishment. But sometimes the older brother did not hit his younger brother. How is this punishment fair? It is not. Innocent people die everyday. Thieves and criminals don't always get caught. Being a teenager, I have learned to accept the fact that I am wrong even though I am actually right. For example, when something valuable is broken in my house. As soon as my parents find out, they blame it on me. I try to tell them that I have no idea how the expensive vase was broken, but in the end I am still punished. School is not fair. People who never do their homework sometimes get the same grades as people who do their homework or never get punished for not doing their homework. Having experienced so many different unfair situations as a teenager, I have learned to accept the fact that life is not fair.

My family is unorganized. I never have to clean up my room because my parent's bedroom is just as messy. In fact, our whole house is a mess. My parents are always leaving their clothes and magazines spread out on the floor or stacked up on the couches. The only time our house gets cleaned is when my parents are hosting a party or special guests are visiting. Our kitchen is a disaster. We never wash our dishes. Everyday I come home and find a pile of dirty dishes in the sink. Some families have to be neat and tidy, but my family doesn't care if everything is out of place.

One of my mom's talents is talking. Once my mom starts a conversation, she will keep talking and talking forever. At family parties, we always end up leaving late because my mom has a hard time saying goodbye. Unlike my mom, my dad and I are quiet. We seldom get sucked into deep conversations. Both my dad and I hate talking to people we don't know or about something we are not familiar about.

My family loves to go on vacations. Because most of my family lives in Indonesia, we have had the opportunity to travel to places all around the world. During the school year my parents are always traveling to random places such as Australia or Egypt. My mom loves traveling because she gets to learn about the different cultures and experience the ways they live. I love vacations because I get to relax.

After it's all said and done

After all the discussions in class about fate vs. freewill, I now wonder whether I can actually choose one side. In the movie Stranger Than Fiction, Harold's fate is to die. However, he has some freewill. He decides to stop counting when he is brushing his teeth and he decides to eat the cookies that Ana Pascal made. I think there cannot be just one answer. People have a fate, but they also have freewill. Freewill does not mean that people can change their fate, freewill simply means that people can make their own decisions. Sometimes freewill can be used to improve a persons life. Even though Harold Crick knew he was going to die, he made the best of the situation. Instead of being lonely, he got a girlfriend.

I also walked away wondering whether if there is an actual answer to this question. Fate or freewill? The more I think about the question the more I get confused. Oedipus obviously had a fate, but just like Harold and everybody else in the world, he also had freewill. But can freewill be limited? Everyday I have the choice of going to school or not. Everyday I go to school. Because my freewill is limited in many situations throughout my life, do I have any freewill at all? Is my fate to go to school forever?! (haha, no) Fate or freewill is a question which I believe has no correct answer. People can believe whichever one they want, but there will always be someone who disagrees with them. For this reason, I have chosen neither fate nor freewill.