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Empire of the Sun | Style

This Study Guide consists of approximately 127 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of Empire of the Sun.
This section contains 338 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page)
Purchase our Empire of the Sun Study Guide

Empire of the Sun Style

Point of View

One of the novel's most interesting and successful qualities is its use of point of view. The events unfold through the eyes of Jim, the protagonist, as he experiences the horrors of life in China during World War II. While providing a vivid depiction of the destruction that surrounds him, Jim remains the detached observer, a survival skill he learns at the prison camp. That same sense of detachment is evident in the novel's early scenes before Jim is separated from his parents.

While he enjoys the benefits of his upper class life in Shanghai, this lonely boy observes with an ironic eye the stark contrasts between European and Chinese life. He notes the "dances and garden parties, the countless bottles of scotch consumed in aid of the war effort" while beggars are whipped in the streets by limousine drivers. Jim sees that "all over the western suburbs people...
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This section contains 338 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page)
Purchase our Empire of the Sun Study Guide
Copyrights
Empire of the Sun from BookRags and Gale's For Students Series. ©2005-2006 Thomson Gale, a part of the Thomson Corporation. All rights reserved.
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