The role of
duckweed flowers in Paradise of The Blind.
Organizing Principle 1: The existence of duckweed flowers in vile
surroundings acts as a criticism of Vietnam.
Connotation
and Denotation
¡§murky¡¨
denotes a dark,
gloomy, obscure, and unclear feeling
waters are
polluted and unfit to support life
¡§clutter¡¨
dingy, disorderly,
suffocated
trash and garbage
litter the pond, illustrating an unkept and disgusting image of the countryside
Use
of Noun + Adjective:
¡§miserable hovels¡¨
small, wretched
homes
poverty ridden
sad, unbearable
lives; no joy
¡§ramshackle
gardens¡¨
loosely made
there¡¦s an
impression that everything is falling apart
no solidity or
concreteness of a traditional home
¡§outhouses
stinking¡¨, ¡§stench"
overpoweringly
nauseating smell that is unescapable
mentioned several
times throughout the novel to describe Hanoi and Hang¡¦s childhood village
wherever you go in
Vietnam these vile scents will always be there
Imagery
¡§weeds and dried
algae washed up on the banks¡¨
¡§weeds¡¨ connotes
an unwanted plant; valueless, nothing beautiful about it
image of a place
with no life; ¡§dried¡¨ and shriveled
¡§washed up on the
banks¡¨ suggests that nobody¡¦s really cared to clear it up
¡§decomposing
toads¡¨
powerfully
gruesome image created
¡§decomposing¡¨
suggests rotting, and this adds on to the overall vile depiction of the
countryside
toads in
particular are very unsightly and nauseating animals
¡§dead fish, their
scales gone black¡¨
again, an emphasis
on the deprivation of life
¡§black¡¨ suggests
that they¡¦ve been there for a while; they are left there and nobody cares to
clean the pond up even though there are hovels and families living right next
to it
¡§wine mixed with
the blood of animals just butchered¡¨
ominous, dark
comparison between the water and wine and the blood of animals
¡§wine¡¨;
intoxicating and poisonous
¡§blood of animals
just butchered¡¨ creates a horrific image of hopelessness and again of death
Cacophony
¡§scorched
carcasses twisted into arches¡¨
jarring and
dissonant sounds created by the hissing ¡§s¡¨ and ¡§c¡¨ sounds while the ¡§d¡¨, ¡§t¡¨
sounds are very harsh
idea of twisting,
burnt, disfigured life forms (kind of like the cripple)
Organizing Principle 2: The flowers highlight Hang¡¦s development as
a character through the stark difference between her childhood and adolescent
interpretation.
Contrast
¡§huge pond, filled
with clear water¡¨ versus ¡§murky pools surrounded by a clutter¡¨
Hang interprets
this body of water as a ¡§huge pond¡¨ as a child, suggesting that when she was
young it seemed like a vaster more infinite pong instead of the pool, which
suggests an enclosed and less grand body of water (as a child everything seems
bigger)
¡§filled¡¨ also
suggests an abundance, while she later describes it as surrounded by ¡§clutter¡¨
finally while she
originally saw everything as a pristine, pure, pong with ¡§clear water¡¨, she
later observes that the water is actually ¡§murky¡¨
shows how she has
become jaded, and the fantastical childhood interpretation is now not what she
sees anymore
¡§brimming with
Japanese duckweed¡¨ versus ¡§stagnant¡¨, ¡§rotting¡¨, ¡§dead¡¨
again we see a
suggestion of overabundance in the word ¡§brimming¡¨, but in contrast the words
¡§stagnant¡¨, ¡¥rotting¡¨, and ¡§dead¡¨ all connote a sense that there is not life or
vivacity
¡§Japanese
duckweed¡¨ also sounds very exotic
¡§spellbound¡¨
versus ¡§contemplate¡¨
as a child hang
regards the flowers with a sense of wonder and fantasy, but as an adult she
reflects and ponders her childhood obsession, and we see less of the captivity
that she once had while looking at them
there is a loss in
her innocence
Simile
¡§bloomed out of
this blanket of green, just as the face of a loving woman blooms into
mysterious, laughing promises.¡¨
as a child Hang
compares the duckweed to the ¡§face of a loving woman¡¨, and this motherly figure
creates a sense of comfort for her. this need for comfort is once again
emphasized by the word ¡§blanket¡¨
¡§mysterious¡¨ also
creates a sense that Hang was not fully aware of her surroundings, she still
wondered about many things
Dialogue
¡§What¡¦s so special
about them?¡¨
from this
quotation we see another viewpoint of an adult, who doesn¡¦t seem to see
anything very special about the duckweed flowers at all
it is interesting
to note that Hang still does have a fascination with the flowers to some degree
and so this perhaps suggest that her breaking away from her childhood and
dependence is not complete
Repetition
¡§real ponds, in
real villages¡¨
repetition of the
word ¡§real¡¨ delineates the fact that her previous interpretation were not very
logical or realistic, she now sees things for what they really are
Organizing Principle 3: Duckweed flowers act as a symbol of a life
unlived for the various characters in the novel.
Connotation
and Denotation
¡§stifling
landscapes¡¨ and ¡§heavy, oppressive¡¨
¡§heavy,
oppressive¡¨ alludes to the communist ideology and the tyrannical and
suffocating presence regime
there is no
happiness
¡§stifling
landscapes¡¨ again denotes a suffocating feeling
¡§glistened,
radiant in the middle of the filth¡¨
Aunt Tam, Que, and
Hang are all represented by the duckweed flowers that are trapped by the filth
around them; whether the limitations are caused by Communism, their duties, or
their country, their radiance is useless
¡§atrocious
ornaments of a life snuffed out¡¨
¡§atrocious¡¨
suggests that this is an awful, outrageous, thing
¡§life snuffed out¡¨
suggests that while they are living, they aren¡¦t really living
Alliteration
¡§shrill, jerky
cries shattering the silence¡¨
repetition of the
¡§s¡¨ sound in ¡§shrill¡¨, ¡§cries¡¨, ¡§shattering¡¨, and ¡§silence¡¨
hissing, malicious
sounding
the cries almost
seem to be a plea for help, or the birds are mourning for these ¡§atrocious
ornaments¡¨