48 pages • 1 hour read
Dai Sijie, Transl. Ina RilkeBalzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2000A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
The Narrator
The unnamed Narrator is one of the novel’s three main characters, and the voice of all but three of the novel’s chapters. His first-person account relates the Narrator’s experiences on the Phoenix of the Sky Mountain as memories recalled and recorded long after the events themselves occurred. This reflects the author’s retrospective perspective on his own re-education, establishing the Narrator as a stand-in for the young Dai in this semi-autobiographical work of fiction.
The novel functions as a coming-of-age narrative for the Narrator, who is deeply affected by the hardships he endures and the forbidden books he reads. Through literature, he is able to access the world beyond his own meager experiences under the oppressive Chinese Communist Party’s regime. The novel Jean-Christophe in particular helps him to develop a sense of individual importance, self-preservation, and an ambition to stand up for his beliefs even against the world. This character development illustrates The Transformative Influence of Literature, which is echoed in the literary allusions and references made throughout his account. Through the books, the narrator improves his storytelling ability and fuels his passion for stories, although he remains quite passive. The Narrator admires Luo and is willing to follow his lead in illicit endeavors. The Narrator is as much an observer of the romantic drama between Luo and the Little Seamstress as he is a participant in the novel’s plot.
The Narrator endures hardship with equilibrium and patience, consoling Luo and maintaining hope in his own ability to find a way off the mountain through his violin playing, despite the low odds. He is unable to quell his fear of danger, however, whether faced with the Little Seamstress’s violent suitors, the perils of the little coal mine, or the threats of the village Headman. The Narrator also resents the government and its proxies as he suffers during his re-education. He admits to “loathing” those who kept him from the books in Four-Eyes’s suitcase, and sadistically tortures the village Headman in revenge for his threats and cruelty. His friendship with Four-Eyes shatters over the latter’s refusal to share his hoard of books, and the Narrator lashes out violently in rejection of Four-Eyes’s desecration of the Old Miller’s folk songs.
The Narrator is a good friend to both Luo and the Little Seamstress throughout the novel, guided by his strong sense of Loyalty and Trust in Love and Friendship. He is selfless and prioritizes Luo above himself, allowing Luo to read Ursule Mirouet first, lauding Luo’s storytelling prowess, and caring for Luo through his bouts of depression and sickness. Additionally, the Narrator never acts on his attraction to the Little Seamstress, instead going to great lengths to protect her and her relationship with Luo in Luo’s absence. He helps the Little Seamstress in the domestic sphere with no expectation of reward, imagining himself as the stalwart guardian to his commander’s wife, and even procuring her an illegal abortion. When the boys learn of the Little Seamstress’s plans to leave the mountain, the Narrator feels as though she has betrayed their bond of friendship by not confiding in him. By the end of the novel, he recognizes that loyalty must be reciprocated for a friendship to endure.
Luo
Luo is the Narrator’s best friend and a secondary protagonist in the narrative. He experiences the events of the novel alongside the Narrator, and one of the chapters is told from his perspective (Part 3, Chapter 5). His relationship with the Little Seamstress is a key focus of the narrative.
Luo is confident, charismatic, and emotional, with an enduring fear of heights. He has the Narrator’s loyalty and admiration and earns the affections of the beautiful Little Seamstress. Luo can also be selfish and thoughtless, waking the Narrator to seek solace in his violin music at night, staking first claim on the book Ursule Mirouet, and placing the burden of watching over the Little Seamstress on the Narrator during his absence. Despite this, he shows significant Loyalty and Trust in Love and Friendship: He masters his fear of heights to reach the Little Seamstress across the narrow ridge each day, freely acknowledges the Narrator’s growing superiority in storytelling, and immediately offers to accompany the Narrator into the village Headman’s custody when the Narrator is threatened. He trusts his loved ones to reciprocate that loyalty, seeming never to fear that the Narrator would try to supplant him in the Little Seamstress’s affections, and having no inkling that the Little Seamstress would leave the mountain and abandon him.
Luo comes from a privileged background which continues to elevate him even through his period of re-education. The poetess and Four-Eyes retain good relations with him in consideration of his father, and he asserts power in the village through manipulation of his alarm clock (See: Symbols & Motifs). He gets special treatment both for his ability to cure the Headman’s toothache and his storytelling skill, illustrating The Power of Art and Knowledge even within the repressive and anti-intellectual context of re-education.
Luo does not shy away from violence, reflecting the harmful effects of the Cultural Revolution and its normalization of brutality (See: Background). He strikes the Narrator after they observe the interrogation of Luo’s father, and accepts the Narrator’s own acts of violence with equanimity, becoming “complicit” in the Narrator’s sadistic torture of the village Headman. Luo has no qualms about deception; he lies easily to the village Headman to protect the Narrator’s violin upon their arrival in the village, and takes the lead in conning the Old Miller and stealing from Four-Eyes.
The Narrator naturally defers to Luo, and until the final chapter of the novel Luo retains a sense of his own superiority over the Little Seamstress. His elevated position over her stems from the class distinction between the peasantry and the urban “bourgeois,” with Luo taking pride in his comparative worldliness and experience. His attitude toward the Little Seamstress also reflects some of the societal patriarchal norms of mid-century Chinese society: Spurred in part by the Narrator’s initial judgment that the Little Seamstress is too unsophisticated, Luo strives to educate and mold the Little Seamstress into what he regards as a suitable partner. He seems not to value her preexisting virtues beyond beauty, and treats her as a possession: He brags to the Narrator after he and the Little Seamstress first sleep together and leaves the Narrator to “guard” her from rival suitors during his absence.
Upon procuring the forbidden Western books, Luo’s focus fixes on transforming the Little Seamstress rather than letting the books influence his self-development. Consequently, Luo does not appear to undergo as much character development under The Transformative Influence of Literature as the Narrator or the Little Seamstress. His final burning of the books is both a deeply emotional reaction against the pain of loss and a rejection of the emancipating and elevating power of literature.
The Little Seamstress
The Little Seamstress is the titular character of Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. She is both the love interest of Luo and the object of the Narrator’s secret desire. She plays a major part in the events of the novel, and one of its chapters is told from her point of view (Part 3, Chapter 6). She undergoes the most significant development of any of the novel’s characters, reflecting The Transformative Influence of Literature. Her all-encompassing transformation is symbolized by her physical metamorphosis from a pigtailed, traditionally-dressed peasant beauty, into a chic and modern city girl with a bob haircut and Mao jacket.
The Little Seamstress is first introduced as a naïve and uneducated village girl, elevated above her peers by her beauty and her father’s status but ultimately inferior from the perspective of Luo and the Narrator. Luo deliberately works to educate her and introduce her to culture through forbidden Western literature, believing that he can mold her into the sort of partner he deems desirable. However, just as she was able to use his instruction and her natural ability to become a masterful swimmer, surpassing him and diving fearlessly from heights he cannot match, so too does his education push her beyond him.
It is significant that, even prior to her introduction to Western literature, the Little Seamstress already showed intellectual curiosity and cleverness in her literacy, her skill in tailoring, and her preference for educated city boys. She also lived largely independently while her father traveled for work, foreshadowing her decision to strike out on her own at the novel’s end. The Power of Art and Knowledge simply allows her natural traits to blossom, introducing her to new talents like acting and empowering her to recognize her own value and potential. Her relationships with both Luo and the Narrator cannot withstand the reversal of power dynamics that come with her liberation, and she ultimately abandons them and her home for a new life elsewhere.
Four-Eyes
Four-Eyes is initially introduced as a friend of Luo and the Narrator and is their source of forbidden literature. However, despite the fact that he too has been sent to the mountain for re-education with his parents declared enemies of the state, he actively works to support and integrate himself into the oppressive regime.
The narrative depicts Four-Eyes as a pitiful and sinister figure; his physical infirmities make him helpless, and magnify annoyances such as the buffalo’s tail into real sources of torment. He lives in constant fear until the moment that his mother’s intervention provides hope of escape; thereafter he shows himself condescending, aggressive, and entitled. The lack of trust and loyalty that he shows toward Luo and the Narrator contrasts with the genuine bond that Luo and the Narrator share. The fact that the latter two boys remain friends while their friendship with Four-Eyes deteriorates into enmity illustrates the importance of Loyalty and Trust in Love and Friendship.
Four-Eyes represents the class of hypocritical men who prospered during the years of chaos and violence at the end of Mao’s reign. His contempt toward the old miller and his cruel retaliation against the buffalo reflect his indifference toward others. Although he is the type of person that the Cultural Revolution was supposed to target—he hoards forbidden literature, is the son of wealthy bourgeoise parents indifferent toward the current regime, and is incapable of working productively as a peasant—he ultimately manages to escape his re-education. The fact that he manages to escape punishment and prosper through nepotism, the exploitation of his friends, and manipulating traditional culture into sycophantic flattery serves as Dai’s critique of the failings of the Cultural Revolution.
