Answer TWO of the
following:
Q1: Why (and when) does
Joan of Arc abandon Vibiana toward the end of the novel? Why is it significant
that she returns just moments before Vibiana’s death?
Q2: Discuss the
similarities between Page 158, with Jesus and the eye-hands, and the similar
image in Boxers with Guan-Yin, the Goddess of Compassion. Why does Yang
make these images almost mirror images of one another?
Q3: On page 136, Vibiana
writes, “Maria was right. The world was about to end. And Dr. Won was all I had
left.” Why does she view Dr. Won in this way, and why does she feel betrayed by
him in the end?
Q4: How does the end of Saints
change how we read Boxers? Why do you think Yang added this scene at
the end of Saints instead of the previous volume? Is it more part of
Vibiana’s story?
Q2: The similarities are extremely interesting. Both Gods are known for their compassion, and their healing so it makes sense to put them in the same light. Their differences are there but both Gods defeated Hell, coming back from the dead because of their compassion.
ReplyDeleteQ4: The end of Saints is very interesting because it changes how we view Bao. Bao then becomes a traitor to his country in his eyes, and to the people who read the book from the Chinese side. He betrayed his country for his life. I think that is why Yang added it into the end of Saints instead of Boxers was so that the reader doesn't have to quite face the upset of watching Bao die, only to find out he had only been injured then proceed to watch him say the Christian prayer and destroy everything he stood for. I don't know whose story it would be more a part of because it fits in with both. Vibiana was the one who told him the prayer, thus saving him by equipping him with it; while Bao was the one who used the prayer and betrayed everything he stood for to save his life. By not including this in Boxers, it makes the reader look upon Bao with a more sympathetic light. While putting it at the end of Saints, makes us change our views of him and instead view Vibiana as the hero of the story.
Q2: I think Yang is making a statement about how alike the two religions are. Both pages have a character standing in the middle of the page and surrounded by eyes. This is probably a statement about wisdom. Both figures are known to be kind, heal the weak, and love the poor, and guide others. It makes it almost ironic because these people are fighting one another and they have forgotten that they have more in common with each other than they have different from each other.
ReplyDeleteQ4: At the end of Saints we find out that Bao was not actually dead. He is still alive and he actually sells out his own faith and everything he had been fighting for the entire book, just to save his own life. In a sense it makes him look like a coward or like a child. He had been murdering people for their faith and they had gone willingly a lot of times, yet he wouldn't do the same. Maybe it wasn't faith he was using to fight with. Maybe he was running on anger and fear. I think Yang added it to the end of Saints for a few reasons. One reason was to give his readers a little present or surprise and something to think about. Another was probably to get more people to read both books. It's not part of Vibiana's story, but it adds to her story and it adds to the ideal that Yang might be a little more partial to the Christians in China.
Q2: Yang mirrors these images to show that both societies have something that despite their differences carry the same ideals and thoughts behind it. Guan-Yin and Jesus both stand for compassion and acceptance of others. Not only that, but both of them were resurrected and tempted. Yang makes sure to point out to us that these two societies are more similar than they think, and they simply are not stopping and thinking about that fact. Not once does Bao stop to think that maybe the “Secondary Devils” aren’t corrupted and instead have become Christians based on those virtues. Bao doesn’t even bother to try and learn their virtues, only listening to the Magistrate’s ramblings about their terrible Yin. The Christians and Colonizers on the same hand, don’t bother to learn the Chinese culture, and instead insist on forcing their values and ethics onto them.
ReplyDeleteQ4: I was honestly quite shocked by the ending of Saints, but looking back at it, I think that it makes some sense. Bao, for as good of a leader and rebel he is, has a LOT of trouble keeping promises. I think that that is his biggest flaw as a character, and we are supposed to be able to see that. Bao cannot keep a promise to anybody he meets. He betrays his Father, Mei-Wen, the five edicts, and now even his own belief. Bao isn’t meant to be the hero of these stories. Instead I think that he is meant to be a secondary antagonist, showing the horror and unthinking wrath of the Boxer Rebellion, that they were just as bad as the invaders that they acted against.
Q1: Joan returns to Vibiana in the moment of both of their deaths. Joan is burning at the stake for refusing to refute Jesus Christ, and again both Vibiana and Joan are going through the same experiences. Joan, the paragon of all Vibiana believes is good and just is refusing to give up her faith in her god, even in the face of death. How could Vibiana do any less?
ReplyDeleteQ2: It’s simple. The goddess and Jesus are both pure, unsullied people who were exalted because of their virtue. They both had the ability to heal, and they were martyred for the salvation of those they loved. The pictures are the same because the idea that they convey is the same.
Q3: Because Vibiana is a Christian, she has already lost her family. Dr. Won is the one who told Vibiana about Jesus and helped lead her to her new faith and she feels a strong connection to him because of this. Vibiana feels betrayed by Dr. Won in the end because she knows that drugs are not something Christians are supposed to use, yet he is an opium addict. She even calls him out for his hypocritical statement earlier on in the book, “We must take from the foreigners what is good and leave behind what is evil.”
ReplyDeleteQ4: At the end of Boxers, I thought Bao was surely dead, and I even felt somewhat bad for him because even though I didn’t agree with his cause, I could respect the effort with which he fought, but when I read Saints and discovered that not only did Vibiana share a prayer with him just before he executed her, but he used a few words from that prayer in order to spare his own life, I was extremely pissed! I felt as if I had been robbed of the justice I thought I was receiving in the first novel. I believe Yang added this scene to the conclusion of Saints to leave the audience wondering where Bao would go from this point. I highly doubt that Bao will convert to Christianity after murdering hundreds of “devils,” but perhaps he will have more respect for them after witnessing Vibiana’s faith firsthand.
Q2: Jesus and Guan-Yin both are very compassionate and loving, they embody those traits. I think that Yang is trying to show us that is the ultimate way to live life, by being kind and understanding. Showing love to everyone we encounter. Both of these characters were introduce to Bao, the leader of a very violent rebellion. This shows even more of the distinction between the two ideologies.
ReplyDeleteQ4: I think it must us have animosity towards Bao. To think that he would throw away everything he has fought for so he could live, how much more could you be selfish? But I get the feeling that Bao actually might have became a believer, maybe that wasn't his first intention. But it is something that Yang could suggested. I do think it continues Vibiana's story. She begins to understand her faith and what it means to her. So much that she dies for her faith and tries to save Bao while he is threatening her. Showing love to her enemy.
Q2: Jesus and Guan-Yin are both characters that inspire their respective heroines to act compassionately towards those originally perceived as enemies. Mei-Wen, for example, draws the eye of Guan-Yin on her hand and begins to care for wounded Christians. She also helps a foreigner rescue books from the fire. Likewise, Jesus inspires Vibiana to teach Bao a prayer. Although both women die soon after, they are spiritually and morally redeemed by taking guidance from their respective religious figures.
ReplyDeleteQ4: As I said earlier in class, the addendum to Boxers at the end kind of makes Bao's story much less poetic. However, it adds an element of beauty to Vibiana's story because it proves that she was able to save someone through her faith, contrary to her dying thoughts. In a way, Vibiana is shown to be the "real hero" between her and Bao. This is odd because Bao's story is more of a grand epic of gods and warriors (which would typically be a more heroic tale) than the story of a poor girl finding a new home only to be slaughtered. It also warps how Boxers is seen because it shows how shaky Bao's moral code really was the whole time, especially since every major decision he had made up to that point was the will of the Emperor. I don't think Boxers exists to make a case for Saints. Bao and Vibiana's stories are supposed to intertwine with one another and give the reader a broader perspective of each story.