"Life and Death in Shanghai"
From “Life and Death in Shanghai” by Nien Cheng
I chose to write about 2 quotes from the excerpt which describes Nien’s time in prison where she was tortured by the guards.
“The best way for me to snap out of fear was always to take the initiative in doing something positive. Even the simple act of moving my body around made me feel better immediately… Of course I was hungry and my throat was parched. But when I thought of the cement toilet coded with dust and grime, I was reconciled to not having any food or water that might force me to use it.” (Cheng, 113)
“… we had bought a painting by veteran of the second world war who had lost both his hands. He used his toes to hold the paint brush I was told. I used to treasure this painting as a symbol of human courage and resourcefulness… But the thought of this artist whom I never met inspired me with courage and helped me to become reconciled to the possibility of losing the use of my hands after this ordeal.” (Cheng, 116)
These two quotes show the reader that Nien generally has an optimistic outlook on life. She talks about the fact that because she isn't eating or drinking, she does not have to use the toilet, which she sees as a positive. Even in a horrible situation, she tries to find the positive side of things. She mentions a painting that she used to have and how it helped her cope with the possibility of losing the use of her hands. She believes that if a veteran with no hands can make something beautiful, she can learn how to as well. In her situation it would be easy to only think about the negative, but Nien manages to do the opposite.
Word Count: 305
I like the idea of Nien Cheng having a positive outlook on life that you discussed. It is very hard sometimes to be optimistic when you have fear in your mind, but she does that. I liked the two quotes you used because those both show perfectly her look on life and that regardless of what happens in her life, she chooses to focus on the positive. In her situation, if she focused on the negative, she would be very miserable and wouldn't be able to change her mindset.
ReplyDeleteI agree that she had a positive outlook on life, she almost gave up a few times but she kept pushing through. Since she was completely against confessing to what she did/didn't do, she had come to the conclusion that whether she lost her hands or not she would not confess, and she didn't. I think that painting helped her through that hard time because she realized that he had painted it with his feet because his hands were cripple. This gave her the motivation to keep pushing on. I think that if it wasn't for the painting and her self determination she would not have made it out of there.
ReplyDelete