Critique on Eileen Chang’s “Love in a Fallen City”

Clara Ho 何愛韋

 

Language:

          Eileen Chang’s writing is very detailed.  She uses a lot of adjectives and idioms in describing some subtle and complex plots and characters of the story.  Compared to other writers, Chang is very distinct when describing the characters, setting the details out quite strongly and giving the reader a good sense about who they are.  The conversations that Chang creates between characters really show her skills as an outstanding writer because of how realistic they are.  None of the dialogues seem to be unnatural or unbelievable.  For example, when Liuyuan flirts with Liusu, he always comments on her most noticeable “strong point” is from “lowering her head.”  Although he does not literally mean this, it is a good depiction of the constant flirtations that may occur between two people interested in one another.

Symbolism is common in this story and without it the effects would not be the same.  One example is the last names of the heroine and her antagonist, respectively Bai, white, and Hei, black.  Universally, white and black represent good and evil respectively.  In addition, these surnames also set out to contrast the distinct difference between the two characters, i.e., Miss Bai pursues Fan Liuyuan with her ultimate goal of marriage, while Miss Hei is kind of a playgirl/party-animal.

 

Structure:

          Eileen Chang is a talented storyteller, which is clearly shown on how skillful she unfolds a story of a love between a widow and a playboy, ending in a marriage unpredictable to most of its readers.  The perspectives that are used are 1^st person and 3^rd person narratives.  Many parts of the story are revealed through conversations (i.e. Liusu to Liuyuan, Liusu to Mrs. Hsu, etc.)  Shortly after these dialogues, Chang sometimes uses her own narration to provide more objective views.

          The time structure in this story is devoid of memory flashbacks; time progresses forward.  This story seems to be told almost in real time, as Chang writes events mostly day-by-day and not by months or years.

          The actual structure of this text is not divided into chapters, but instead one entire story that must be read from beginning to end.

 

Form:

          The form of “Love in a Fallen City” is that of a novelette (a short novel.) The story takes place first in Shanghai, then Hong Kong.  At first glimpse it looks like a story of the heroine Liusu’s struggles with her family ties, but when story moves to her travel to Hong Kong with the Hsu family to meet Liuyuan again, the reader realizes it’s a love story.  Like many of Eileen Chang’s stories, this love story includes some sort of love triangle.

The story is set in the year 1941 when the Japanese attacked and then occupied Hong Kong.  There are both Western and traditional Chinese influences in the story.  The Western influence appears in the form of Liuyuan, while the traditional Chinese influence is symbolized by Liusu.  It is also shown through her family and their desire to marry all their daughters off.  The balance between mixing two cultures allows many things to happen in the story that would not happen in other more traditional short stories.

 

Thoughts/Ideas:

          “Love in a Fallen City” is a tale of how love survives war and other tribulations that are not evident on the surface.  The relationship between Liusu and Liuyuan fulfills more than just the creation of a love bond between two people.  Liuyuan’s pursuit of Liusu teaches her how to love again after feeling hurt and humiliated by her first marriage.  Liuyuan pursues this relationship also because he wants to recognize and regain his Chinese self, which has long gotten blurred by living overseas.

          The major symbol to their love is a red tree that both of them see upon taking a walk in Repulse Bay.  It is dark, and difficult to distinguish the colors, but still the tree is described as burning red (symbolic of love.)  The perception of the tree is something much like their relationship.  Their true feelings are always hidden behind the flirtations that are constantly being made to each other.  The conversations that seem to mean nothing all eventually mean something significantly in the development of their relationship.  So, like the red tree, their love is hidden but still there burning for each other.

          Other than the satisfaction of reading a love story that ends happily, a main lesson implied in this story is that one must cherish the crucial moment.  When war comes, everything is destroyed and people only have each other for basic consolation.  There is no room for materialism in war, there is no room for selfish people, but Chang makes the point that there is room for the unity that one finds between two people in love.

 

Reflection:

          I enjoyed reading this story although with much difficulty because my proficiency in Chinese is insufficient.  The main characters are very interesting and I like seeing the development that occurred for both of them.

After reading some articles about Chang’s biography, I wonder if the inspiration of this story comes from her parents.  When Eileen was young her parents got divorced and her mother left for France while her father remained in China, I wonder if this was her solution for a perfect ending in a “real” world.  I really like the story which seems more real than most of other love stories I have read, and I especially like the conclusion of the story when Chang narrates and reflects back on why Liusu and Liuyuan went through the war together.

Eileen Chang is an excellent writer and I only wish I could appreciate her writing better if I were more fluent in reading Chinese.