The irony of a clock

The characters of Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress experience a great shift in their lives when they embark on a journey to Phoenix mountain. The villagers and the main characters' lives become moved deeply by simple things such as clocks and books. Everyday objects ironically transform to become of great importance and in turn transform the characters.
The villagers on Phoenix mountain experience their own "cultural revolution" when they meet Luo and the narrator. Ironically, everyday objects to two city boys become idols of worship for remote villagers. "The alarm clock seized the imagination of the peasants. It became an object of veneration, almost. Everyone came to consult the clock, as though our house on stilts were a temple." The villagers become so fixated on a clock that they don't notice that its masters tell it to lie to the villagers. They also become entranced with another common city activity: the cinema. "Phoenix mountain was so remote from civilisation that most of the inhabitants had never had the opportunity of seeing a film, let alone visit a cinema." The cinema also becomes another "forbidden palace" for the villagers; they send Luo and the narrator to see films in place of the village headman. The villagers show the irony of the restrictions in China. The villagers are not allowed to be religious, but they worship common trinkets with a zeal much like religion . The cultural revolution, which was meant to suppress educated children like Luo and the narrator, instead gave the villagers a sweet taste of the city: like "a dish of beef and onions."
The western books transform the two city boys and the Little Chinese Seamstress as they absorb the limitless information of the western books. The boys become "seduced, overwhelmed, spellbound by the mystery of the outside world, especially the world of women, love, and sex as revealed to them by these Western writers day after day, page after page, book after book." They become enlightened to western thinking; they "find transit from their grim surroundings to worlds they never imagined." The books initiate a different metamorphosis in the Little Chinese Seamstress, however. She begins "not civilised, at least not enough for [Luo]." The simple books mixed with the urban passion of Luo drives the Little Chinese seamstress to become a city girl. By the end of the book, "the lovely, unsophisticated mountain girl had vanished without a trace. Studying her new look, Luo was filled with the happiness of an artist contemplating his finished creation."
The Cultural Revolution was a time of much cultural turmoil, and people became encumbered with the weight of Mao's new country. Common items such as books were not what they were; they became entire worlds within a few hundred pages. Balzac and the Chinese Seamstress shows the irony behind these objects; they became worth much more than face value. The everyday items ironically had an immense impact on the characters; they learned to appreciate the "small things" in life.

Othello Test

The choices of the characters in Othello lead to unexpected results. Iago shovels plague into the men of Othello until they spew the pestilence onto each other. None of the men know who poisons them; they blindly clash with each other like gladiators in an arena. The women of the play are thrown into the arena as well; their demeanors attract conflict with the men, and they also become victims in a battle of souls. The lone spectator, Iago, throws tomatoes from the stand to initiate fights among the gladiators. Tragically, the characters in the play are not aware that they are being put on display until they are mortally wounded. Iago turns people against each other to enmesh them all in a destructive explosion of his tragic vision.

Iago fuels the emotions of the men to react destructively with each other. He "pour[s] pestilence into [Othello's] ear." Ironically, Othello instinctively takes the pestilence because he feels a stronger relationship with Iago than with Desdemona. Othello's romanticism also feeds his self destruction; he takes the slightest hint of betrayal as an apocalyptic calamity. Cassio feels the invisible hand of Iago too. Iago tells Cassio "the general's wife is now the general" while Iago is the real puppet master of the Venetians. Iago plays Cassio like a pawn; Cassio's need to regain his reputation leaves him vulnerable for Iago to take advantage of him. Like Cassio, Roderigo becomes a vehicle for Iago's revenge; the two men are used like disposable batteries and discarded when their purpose is served. Iago is an expert at creating convincing fabrications that warp the opinions of the other characters. The men of Othello ensnare themselves in the entangling lies of Iago, and they eventually suffocate in the net Iago weaves.

The womens' personalities in Othello lend themselves to being abused by Iago. Iago does not need to influence the women to do his bidding; they already possess that characteristic. Emilia is "nothing if not for [Iago's] fancy." She is an unwitting sidekick to the "Prince of Darkness." She does not know she is being used as an instrument in Iago's symphony of destruction. Tragically, she makes the correct intellectual choice by bringing Othello's handkerchief to Iago, but she falls when she learns that she assisted in the destruction of Desdemona and Othello. Desdemona's virtuous beauty and intellect designate her as a prime target for Iago's plans. Desdemona's alliance with Cassio brings her downfall because she was too kind and loyal. She served Othello too well; they "loved not wisely but too well." Desdemona's blunt honesty ironically leads Othello to believe the opposite of what she says. Desdemona and Emilia became victims of their own dispositions.

Iago places tinted glasses over the eyes of the characters in the play. He works his magic by restricting the view of his victims. The characters turn on each other because they see each other as "green-eyed monsters." Men stab what they see as monsters until everyone is wounded or dead. Iago's evilness comes from his relative obscurity within his deeds; he only lights the fuse and hides before he is caught in his own explosion. Iago's tragic explosion that he creates eventually intensifies until he too is caught in his own blast. All the characters are victims to the tragedy, but they also were fuel to the fire.

Evilness...

What makes people evil? Nobody is really evil; evil is a point of view. America was evil to Japan in World War II; Guitar was evil to Milkman; Pharaohs were evil to their slaves. Evilness isn't born into people; instead, it is worn on people. Someone may see an act as harmful or malicious, but everything is relative to one's opinion. Voldemort was trying to be a good guy and create a pure world of witches and wizards--or he was a crazed powerhungry warrior bent on utter destruction. Guitar was trying to do his job when Milkman got in the way--or he just wanted revenge on his friend for not cutting him in for part of some gold. Evilness isn't universal, so people cannot be born evil. If someone declares themselves evil and the world agrees, though, then the person may be evil.