Love in a Fallen City

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repeats these actions on a daily basis. So, this means that Zhenbao has not concern over his reputation because if he did, he would think more carefully about cheating on his wife and becoming an alcoholic.

Now, Liusu is in a completely different situation. She is an outsider, and what makes it even sadder is that her own family despises her as well. For instance, after Liusu and her mom get into an argument, Liusu says to her Aunt, “I can’t stay here in this house any longer. I’ve known for ages how much they resent me, even if they bite their tongues. But now that they’ve beat the drums, banged the gongs, and said it straight out, I’ve lost too much face to go on living here” (118). According to this quote, Liusu is even threatening to leave her own home because her relationship with her parents is terrible. This makes her an outsider because she feels as if she has no type of connection with her parents at all. The fact that she wants to leave her own home shows how bad of a connection she has with her own parents. On the other hand, you have Zhenbao, who has a very healthy relationship with his parents, which has resulted in him making his own special family. But all in all, both these characters have a hard time dealing with their current roles in China, and it causes them to break down and frustrate themselves.

In conclusion, the two characters Zhenbao and Liusu suggest that there are different ranks within the Chinese society, and could also make a huge impact on how one lives life. With Zhenbao, because he is looked upon by everyone as the ideal modern Chinese man, he faces a lot of difficulties in maintaining his reputation due to him constantly drinking and sleeping with other women. However, if these people were to catch Zhenbao drinking and striking anger at others, he would still be looked at as the ideal modern Chinese man. This is because the Chinese society’s description of an ideal modern Chinese man is a man who has academic knowledge, wealth, and a good family. Therefore, it doesn’t matter how these men treat others because they have all these other qualities that they possess.As you can see, academic intelligence is more important than one’s personality, according to the Chinese society. But, an outsider like Liusu who’s not noticed by anyone at all can have a dreadful life. To be specific, she cannot connect with anyone, which makes her isolated from others and sad as well. One of these instances include the arguments that she gets into with her family. These arguments cause Liusu to want to be isolated from everyone, as she discusses with her Aunt how she can no longer stay in the household. So, as a result of these character’s different reputations, their actions and consequences can turn deadly for them at the end if they are not following the expectations that are being given to them. To be specific, both of these character’s reputations are what defines them as human beings, so ruining it will basically kill their known identity. And, because their identity is killed, they are viewed as mysterious people who are unknown in society.