"He took the chopsticks, picked up the pebble from the dish and slowly dipped it in the sauce as if performing a ritual. then he raised the pebble to his lips and sucked it with relish"(72).
"It's a remedy against cowardice. To gain courage, you must swallow it when it's still lukewarm and frothy... When he finished he sucked his fingers one by one, to make sure not a drop was wasted"(94).
Analysis:
Sijie uses the symbols of the jade dumplings and the buffalo’s blood to emphasize the hardships one faces while coming of age. Many aspects of one’s coming of age are rooted in relishing the little things in life and not taking gifts for granted. This is shown in the deep enjoyment and “relishing” the old man takes when simply dipping rocks into salty water. This intervenes with the idea of coming of age, because it shows that as one gets older they are faced with harder situations and more difficult tasks, yet they must remain grateful for the simple pleasures to be enjoyed. Like the jade dumplings, Four-Eyes choice of drinking the cure for cowardice shows a peak in the process of coming of age. Four-Eyes chooses to drink the bufallo blood in order to “cure himself from cowardice”. This is a choice made towards the goal of developing into an adult. Coming of age has everything to do with evaluating your personal self. By admitting his cowardice, Four-Eyes is growing and maturing. Drinking the buffalo blood shows that he is ready for change and is actually forces it upon himself. Using the blood as a “cure”, he believes that he will cure himself of cowardice, and subsequently his boyhood. Therefore, he is beginning to walk down the path of a developing adult.
I like how you connected jade dumplings and buffalo blood to coming of age--a unique combination of symbols to express a unique message. How do you think the old miller came of age--could you delve deeper into what the jade dumplings represent?
ReplyDeleteI agree with Karina, the way you tied this whole "scene" to coming of age really widened my perspective of this whole event. I didn't really think of it that way!
ReplyDeleteBut do you really think that Four-Eyes knew him drinking the blood would make him more of an adult?
DeleteI thought that it was interesting to use the salty jade stones as an example of coming of age; I would not have thought to choose this symbol for that topic, but it actually works well in this situation. Do you think that Four-Eyes drank the blood out of pressure to do so, a hope to please his community leaders, or really a personal choice that he wants to become brave and no longer be a coward?
ReplyDeleteComing of age is a very interesting way to connect these two items, it is not apparent immediately when looking at the two items, but after reading your paragraph it becomes clear that they are related this way.
ReplyDeleteI never would have thought about these two scenes being about coming of age. This really gives me a greater understanding of the book, and how hard you must work in reeducation just for the slightest of things.
ReplyDeleteThe message of this astonished me. The connection between the blood and the dumplings to coming of age was interesting. Good work with putting it together. Could you expand more and find a more deeper meaning into this connection?
ReplyDeleteI like how you connected the buffalo blood to cowardice, especially because Four-Eye's main trait throughout the whole book was cowardice. I also like how you connect coming of age to growing and mature, and how drinking the blood showed Four-Eye's coming of age
ReplyDeleteI think that this is a very interesting connection. I like how you connected the jade dumplings to the process of coming of age and cure of cowardice. What are the other methods that the characters take to "come of age" in the novel?
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