Asian 237: Modern Chinese Literature and Society

Final Exam

Spring, 2019

 

Choose three “sections” (i.e. three Roman numerals, each of which consists of several chapters) from WU Ming-Yi’s novel The Man with the Compound Eyes. Comment on the following of the sections you choose:

 

1. Who is the narrator of each chapter (the novelist or a character in the novel)? What is the narrative point of view (1st person, 2nd person, 3rd person omniscient, or 3rd person limited)? Are there any switches of those from chapter to chapter? Why are the switches (or non-switches)?

2. How does the story unfold in the sections you choose? Please summarize.

3. Are there any parallels between/among the chapters in the same section (i.e. under the same Roman numeral)?

4. Are there any connections among the sections you select (i.e. among different Roman numerals) ?

5. The novel is titled “the man with the compound eyes.” What does the title mean as revealed in the sections you select?

 

Section II; Chapter IV

Narrator: Told in third-person limited,  “Atile’i’s Island” takes place after his departure from Wayo Wayo. A central theme of this chapter is isolation, death, and suicide. This is because the reader is given an introduction to the character’s personal conflict. The third person point of view allows us, the reader, to understand a larger background of what is going on with Atile’i in his new environment. We can also get a greater understanding as to why this chapter could be themed as isolation, death, and suicide. 

Summary: Atile’i is several days from Wayo Wayo and found himself on a drifting island. Through exploring the island, he contemplates his mental and physical state. In acceptance of death, he prays to Kabang and asks for his corpse to make its way back home. However, death out of his isolation and desertion is not his fate as it also won’t be for another main character. He soon encounters the dead second sons of Wayo Wayo Island who help him decide against suicide. All of his thought up until then were about acceptance of the end and believing that he was already on the “land of death.” Atile’i wished to quickly join the other second sons and thought of suicide, but the spirits of the second sons told him that suicide would only him into a jellyfish who cannot recognize another. Atile’i didn’t wish for that kind of death but for connection with his people again. Accepting this, he continued living after his visit from the second sons. He grew to be depressed from the solitude and only kept on living for the sake of not becoming a jellyfish and losing his memory. 

Parallels: The key aspects to remember from this chapter is the acceptance of death Atile’i has and the reason that prevents his suicide. What is his desire and what is it that he doesn’t want to lose? His desires and fears will parallel to Alice’s in “Alice’s House.”

 

Section II; Chapter V

Narrator: “Alice’s House” continues with the theme of death and suicide from the chapter “Atile’i’s Island.” In contrast, a reader who has once read The Man with the Compound Eyes may see how the first sentence could be told in the third person omniscient point of view. This is because they will know who the narrator is. They will know that Alice now knows the full picture, but the chapter is actually written in third-person limited for the purpose of discussing Alice’s history. 

Summary: The narrator introduces Alice’s husband, Thom, and his late child, Toto. Promptly after, the narrator states that Toto was either an “accident” or maybe “fate.” These phrases serve as foreshadowing and symbolism for the relationship between Thom and Alice. The chapter also discusses their weak relationship and different interest. Thom was the adventurer who was always ready to go out on another climbing trip while Alice dreamt of being a writer. Then, discussing the present, the narrator gets into how Alice is also ready to die, not unlike Atile’i. The reason for her desire to die is because she doesn’t have a connection to her husband and her son has already passed. She doesn’t have fond memories with Thom as she does with her son. In the chapter, she gets to the point of not caring as to whether the earthquake buries her house or the flooding drowns her. The memories of Toto were her only strength. For example, the birthprints of Toto’s feet on her picture frame was her reminder of hope. Even so, Alice had felt that she was already dead without her son, but a quick turn in events snaps her back to having a reason to live. A small kitten she eventually calls Ohiyo curls up into her arms and become a new symbolism of hope for her.

Parallels: In this chapter, Alice’s story is parallel to Atile’i’s for their similar acceptance of death those acceptances are both rooted in a loss of memories and connections. Atile’i and Alice are both ready to pass on because they have nothing left they desire. However, they both decide against a wish of death. Atile’i realizes that his death leads to becoming a jellyfish. That means that he won’t recognize his people. Alice, in grief, meets Ohiyo and for some sudden reason decides to keep on living too. As a result, both characters continue on and what keeps them alive is the fear of losing their memories and family. In this case, Ohyio is like Alice’s new family that she can build memories with.

 

Section III; Chapter VI

Narrator: “Hafay’s Seventh Sisid” starts with a narration by Alice in the second person. This chapter introduces Hafay’s relationship to Alice but begins with an introduction about herself and her Seventh Sisid. The reason for the second person point of view from Alice could be due to recurring themes of observation in this section. Thus, we have a narration of Alice’s observations of Hafay. Eventually, it will shift to third-person limited so we can observe the two characters together. 

Summary: Alice gives the reader a background on Hafay highlighting her lack of ability to speak neither English or Taiwanese which could symbolize her role as more of a listener and observer. For example, her job is the most obvious and clear indicator of her role as an observer. Her Seventh Sisid is perfectly described to be the “skeleton” that holds her “thoughts and memories” which is also a perfect observation point literally and figuratively because the Seventh Sisid is a lighthouse overlooking Alice’s seaside house. Regarding the view Hafay gets, it is eventually symbolic of her figuring out Alice’s inner turmoil. Another way Hafay is an observer is through learning her opinion on “pretentious” Taipei people who visit the B&Bs in the area. Then, we learn her probable thesis if she were to write a book. Supposedly, she would say that “the true source of culture is loneliness” which is a statement a keen observer would be more likely to say. Switching to a focus on both Alice and Hafay, the chapter discusses regular customers also known as Alice and discusses how Hafay has come to understand her. She began to notice Alice’s low state and saw her in conflict with her thoughts of loneliness. What made it easier was also the Seventh Sisid’s view of Alice’s home. She is the person who “can tell whether you have the will to live.” Finally, the chapter concludes with Hafay notices Alice partially seeing Alice mouth the words Ohiyo, Alice’s new reason to live.

Parallels:  This chapter focus on observation and loneliness. The character Hafay and her role are similar to that of Dahu in the next chapter because they care for Alice and notice her changes. Hafay briefly is introduced to Alice’s new will to live when she sees her whispering at the end and Dahu actually meets the kitten. Ohiyo as the means to live is an additional theme that lives on in the consecutive chapter.

 

Section III; Chapter VII

Narrator: The third-person limited perspective of “Alice’s Ohiyo” provides the outsider view of Dahu and his daughter’s visit to Alice. This allows us to see another set of observers and what they notice of Alice through regular interaction.

Summary: During the visit, Dahu and Umav, his daughter, meet Ohiyo and see that she is still stubborn in leaving her flooding seaside house. Her stubbornness is representative of her holding onto her memories but Ohiyo, in this chapter, starts to become a stronger force for Alice to keep living. The narrator even says, “ [Ohiyo was] shaking her long, suicidal heart back to life.” As for Toto, there are some keywords and indicators that are starting to be introduced to the story. We learn that Toto is “not especially linguistically inclined…” which is a statement that is emulated in later chapters. We learn this and Toto’s memory is shrouded in mystery. Alice realizes some of the “ways memory works: often you’re [Alice] the only one who can recognize what something means. These statements and realizations are then more hints to Toto’s truth where he “might just be sealed off in a deathless world somewhere…” 

Parallels: Alice’s Ohiyo connects to the last chapter because of the introduction about observations. We have Hafay, Dahu, and Umav’s perspective on Alice that gives an objective overview of what’s going through Alice’s mind and how that affects her decisions. The observers all see her loneliness but notice her shift and Ohiyo, her reason to keep on living.

 

Section VIII; Chapter XXI

Narrator: In introducing Detlef and Sarah the author decided on using third-person limited to give the reader the history of their relationship. It allows for broad and quick insights into these characters.

Summary: Detlef and Sara are back visiting and surveying the trash vortex within the chapter “Through the Mountain.” The bulk of the chapter covered the technicalities of the history of the tunneling project that Detlef was a part of. In addition, there was a lot of personal conflict being contemplated about the necessity of man’s need versus nature.  Loss is a great theme that appears in this chapter because of Jung-hsiang Li, a friend from the tunneling project, experienced the loss of a friend and a brother. The friend, Jung Chun, survived the dangers of the project but was changed as he went into a depressive state and “went through the motions working like a machine.” There’s the question of was this worth the loss of that occurring throughout the chapter.

Parallels: This is the beginning of the end and it starts with themes of loss and realizations. They are more like possible realizations in this chapter because we are questioning the worth of actions. The next two chapter answers questions about the loss and reveals truths that relate to the new theme introduced in this chapter.

 

Section VIII; Chapter XXII

Narrator: “A Rainstorm’s Coming” continues the reveal of the theme about loss. The third-person limited point of view, again, is leaving the story as objective as possible to the reader because we are discovering with Alice in this chapter. 

Summary: Alice and Atile’i are becoming more comfortable with each other and Alice opens up to him about Toto, but she is actually making a turn and is talking more about Ohiyo than Toto. She is doing a lot of inside thinking which allows the reader to learn more about Thom and Toto. We know that Toto is the glue that held the relationship together, but that isn’t all. Alice reflects on a conversation she had with Dahu about the time that they found Thom’s body. There were no reports about Toto which is a big hint and big reveal because of what Alice says at the end of the chapter. She says, “maybe he [Thom] remained alone right to the end.”

Parallels: The reveal and hints about Toto in this chapter are great losses for Alice because the reader is so much closer to realizing Toto doesn’t exist. Thom also would be experiencing the loss because Toto is his son too. Alice and Thom’s relationship then was for what. This is one aspect of how this chapter can relate to the last. Their relationship is like the tunneling through the mountain’s heart. The two tunneled through a relationship to end with a loss. The tunneling also ended with losses. The truth is making a bigger and bigger hole in nature and hearts.

 

Section VIII; Chapter XXIII

Narrator: “The Man with the Compound Eyes I” makes the reader read from a very outsider feeling because of the big mystery read in third-person limited. This is so we are reading another mini story about just the man and the boy. 

Summary: In this chapter, the boy means Toto and the man means Thom. The key parts of this chapter are about communication between the boy and the man. The two are on the climbing trip and the chapter opens with some unusual descriptions about the boy. He’s got both and “enchanting” look and uncharacteristically advanced climbing skill. The man and the boy exchange in conversation, but the boy doesn’t respond. “Only the man speaks. The boy never replies, as if he simply does not exist.” Additionally, the man contemplates his reason for staying with Alice. Thom gets his first time in the book to reflect with himself and comes to terms with his true desires to “leave home.”

Parallels: More concluding hints, revelations, and loss conclude this section as “The Man with the Compound Eyes I” continues to wrap up the beginning of tying up loose ends. The man is catching up to Alice in reaching the point of truth. He too thinks about how Toto has been the thread holding the relationship together, but that thread is just about to be broken for Thom. 

 

Section Parallels: The parallels between the sections connect like a classic literary plot. There’s the first section that deals with suicide and conflict that makes the characters ready for the end. Moving into the second section, there’s the exploration of the story and in the case of The Man with the Compound Eyes, it’s a lot of observations but not direct answers because that is to be revealed in the concluding section. The last section gathers the themes, and the big looming theme about loss is introduced. It is different than the death and suicide theme as it is loss in a new way. The ending sections are the revelations, but they come with loss on a mental and emotional level.

Man with the Compound Eyes meaning: You've got a lot of conflicts that are personal but also physical with nature. There’s a trend of indirect and direct pain being inflicted back and forth between man and nature.  The tunneling project killed Li and harmed Chun and multitudes more. This is similar to some of Alice’s pain being inflicted by the trash vortex causing the loss of her home. There’s a cyclical pattern of pain loss and harm of nature. Man doesn’t communicate well with nature and they’re suffering. Man doesn’t communicate with each other and doesn’t have good understandings of each other. This results in more desolations. Revalations are brought but by who. The man with the compound eyes unknown and is also like a cycle. He is all over circulating the world because he could be many people or many things such as nature or a deity of revelations. Hints, foreshadowing, and symbolism is all over. He may be the thoughts of the consciences and truth itself. The all knowing man is hard to identify maybe because his identity is shifting like the state of characters like Alice. The point is that it depends on the reader’s perspective too. In each section, the man with the compound eyes could be someone or something new because not every section is told the same. Different eyes see things some don’t. Only if you saw everything or you were everything or everyone, you would be able to see the compounded picture that the man with the compound eyes sees.