Literary Analysis #4 - 0 views
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Shivani Bhatt on 21 Jan 11Argument: The argument is that this book forces the reader to think a little out of the box and it can seem as a realistic story.The reader must be able to intertwine their "senses" between the fast and present, between reality and fantasy, and through the lives of yin and yang. The critic, Benzi Zhang, just summarizes the book and discusses the points in the book where the characters changes between past and present. Evidence: "Tan's novel moves toward the subversion of our rational perception of life, elaborating on "the question of life continuing beyond our ordinary senses" (Zhang). "Western rationalism and materialism have left Olivia with a limited view of life, and she cannot grasp the spiritual values embodied in Kwan's Chinese way of thinking" (Zhang). Thoughts: I think that this book just forces the reader to go deeper into the book, and makes them read beyond the words. This book may be realistic in some ways, since everyone gets confused between reality and fantasy. Tan uses symbolism and creativity to explain her life, or how shoe would have liked it to be. She views everything so open minded, and she observes every detail, and wondering how the it might portray to someone else. This book is the perfect book to describe Tan's thinking.