Balzac And The Little Chinese Seamstress

3) There are many ironies present in the story. Choose one major irony and explain how/why the irony shapes the meaning of the story.

Dai Sijie's book is full of ironies, especially at the end of the book. One of the major ironies is hat at the end of the book, Luo and the Little Seamstress "switched" places. By the time Luo had started to see the world differently because of the re-education, the Little Seamstress wanted to go back to where Luo came from. Sijie set up this irony because it was unexpected and this made the book have more meaning. By showing that what Luo expereinced during those months on the mountain had changed him, and by showing that reading from a Western book about the city which the Little Seamstress had never seen before changed her, Sijie underlines the idea that a smalll amount of exposure to something can change the way one percieves life completely.

Another irony similar is that the books that we illegal and forbidden were thought to have brought beter things as an escape from the strict society, and at first theyt did. But after a while the books turned out to be he cause of many problems, particularly between the Little Seamstress and Luo. The book swere suppoesed to be a way that Luo and the Little Seamstress could free their minds from the confines of the society, but instead the books forced the Little Seamstress to leave in an ironic, unexpected way.

Irony is the major factor that makes te book what it is and Sijie uses it perfectly in a slightly subtle way that keeps the reader intrigued and gives the feeling that is intended.