The blunt and almost impartial voice of the book made it easier and more comically interesting with its good amount of irony and naivete to balance out the history and cultural references. While having the class perform skits in English, their first time performing with members of the opposite sex, some of the students slip up because they are nervous and are learning a language they aren't too familiar with:
"Duncan: Excuse me, girls. May I enjoy you?
Me: Duncan, you mean 'join you.'
Duncan, embarrassed that he had made a mistake, turned purple.
Me: Keep going.
The two girls put their imaginary paddles down angrily.
Heidi: No! Go play with yourself!
Me: You should say 'play by yourself'.' You play with others, and play by yourself (192)."
The blunt and impartial way Mark narrates this scene makes it all the more funnier. Throughout the book, he tries to include sections that show naivete of others, which add to the comic relief. This section is funny because the characters don't understand (are naive to the fact) that what they are saying is actually an unintended sexual reference in which the narrator doesn't poke fun at, but just smoothly glides over and ignores. Overall, the constant naive humor strewn throughout the book through a practically impartial and blunt voice made this book enjoyable and definitely worth reading.
One of my favorite things about this book was the narrator's interactions with others and their empathy. One of the best examples of this is when Mark is on the train with two men released from corrective labor, and one of them tells him he is excited to see his mother again, "The big fellow struck him hard in the chest with the back of his forearm, knocking him out of his reverie and nearly out of breath.
'What did you do that for?' the smaller man screamed, his face now crimson.
His partner looked down at the floor between his legs and said quietly, 'Don't talk like that, about seeing your mom.'
'Why not?'
He pointed at me without raising his eyes. 'Because he's from far away. He can't see his mom at all. He doesn't need to know how happy you are. (178-179)'
This hits me hard, because taking into consideration how someone else might feel is the definition of empathy and is exactly what the "big fellow" did. He didn't like his friend bragging about his excitement to see his mother because he knew Mark wouldn't be able to, and might feel sad, nostalgic, or jealous because he can't do the same thing. This perfect example of empathy, compassion, and humility adds so much more depth to the book and is why this section is my favorite part.
Though I do agree that Mark has a lot of empathy for different characters during this book (for example Little Mi and Jin Wenzhi) I do not believe that the tone of the book (or the first person character Mark) is omniscient.
ReplyDeleteThe Merriam-Webster Dictionary states that the definition of omniscient is knowing everything or having unlimited understanding or knowledge. In other words, it means that someone who is omniscient is someone that knows everything. Mark, on the other hand, barely knows anything about China when he begins to live there. For example, when Mark first arrives in China he "stumbled over to a sink, splashed some water on my face, drank a few mouthfuls, then noticed the sign over the faucet- Don't Drink This" (5). Mark did not know what he was doing, and he did not know that the water on the train would give him terrible diarrhea for a few weeks.
As he progresses in the book, he is still not all knowing, or omniscient. On page 110, (about halfway through the book) Mark makes another large mistake, because of something he did not know. "Zheng asked me if I wanted any more binglang, and I answered that I was full enough for the time being. His eyes opened wide and he asked me if I had swallowed them. 'Yes- wasn't I supposed to?' 'Aiya...' he gasped, then told the others what I had done" (110). Mark accident ate something that was just supposed to be chewed, another time he made a mistake because he did not know something.
The amount of things Mark didn't know or still doesn't know about China is practically endless, he didn't know about Renao, he did not know that people are supposed to give huge amounts of food to their guests, and he did not know that the Chinese do not speak about kissing.
It seems to me that Mark is the opposite of omniscient while he is in China.
That's cooool. I actually meant impartial. Oopsies
Delete