Thousand Pieces of Gold by Ruthanne Lum McCunn - Book Report/Review Example

English, Essay Topic: Thousand Pieces of Gold Ruthanne Lum McCunn Brief summary of the book Thousand Pieces of Gold Ruthanne Lum McCunn Lalu was the beloved daughter of a rich farmer in China, but soon life changed radically for them with financial losses. She was given the choice to work as a domestic servant for a wealthy family far away, or to work with her father in the fields, by unbinding her feet. She preferred the latter option, but the solution was short-lived. Struck with utter poverty, her father sold her to bandits for two bags of seed and they kidnapped and beat her and then sold her to Madam for sexual slavery. She made desperate efforts to escape, finally succeeded and hid in a bat cave from where she was caught. At that juncture Ding said to her, “Don’t you understand, you cannot escape your fate? (77) And finally she was sold a bar owner in America, got a new name Polly and finally the neighbor who won her in a card game, married her and Polly spent the rest of her life taking care of him and her community. A direct response to the question: “Do you think Ding was right . . . “(my thesis). No, Ding is absolutely wrong. A series of incidents of suffering in the life of an individual should not be quoted to condemn fate, which normally works to a pre-determined design, but can be challenged successfully by the will power of an individual. Fate (destiny) has two types of movements. Forward movement and lateral movement. Forward movement is that movement over which an individual does not own control. For example, petrol/gas in a motor vehicle is an example of forward movement. This is the source-energy without which the vehicle cannot move an inch, howsoever latest and costly the model is. The chauffeur driving the vehicle is the example of the lateral movement. He controls the movements of the vehicle with self-effort; he can take it in the direction and the speed that he wants. When negligent, accidents may happen. In the present case, that Lalu was born as the daughter of a rich farmer, that her father suffered heavy business losses, that she was sold for two bags of rice to bandits, that she was sold to a Madam and was sexually exploited, were instances of forward movements. That she made efforts to escape, that she learnt the working knowledge of English, that she decided to marry the man who freed her from the bondage of slavery and ultimately she chose to take care of her man and the community to which she belonged were the examples of lateral movement of the fate. Her fighting qualities and will power were components of her fate of lateral movement. In this part of her life she became the creator of her fate, not the victim. The working of the fate in one’s life is a complicated process difficult to understand by the power of reasoning alone, but an individual need to exert to the utmost by the exercise of the will power to emerge as the ultimate victor and seek freedom from the clutches of fate. If perfect happiness does not fall to one’s lot, one needs to learn to live life with the available happiness. Lalu changed her life with her own strength and intelligence and through her fighting qualities of head and heart. 3) 2 examples from the novel itself that support the thesis. Example 1 Through the trials and tribulations of the young but spirited girl Lalu, McCunn highlights the importance of freedom in the life of an individual. Lalu goes through the ordeal of trades of her body from bandits, houses of sexual pleasure and finally to the bar owner in the Gold Mountains, and she understands her worth and the importance of her body from the point of view of the secular world, and that of her spirit by self-assessment. She has the good estimate of the disposition of wicked society towards a helpless women caught in the wrong place. Lalu laments, “So long as the woman satisfies that muscle below their belt, they don’t care about anything else”(95)Her reply to the remark from the comrade from the auction house block, “You’re thin, but beautiful and sound,”(103) is an issue for the social activists and law makers, for soul-searching. She retorts, “What does that change except my price?”(103) Lalu raises an important sociological and historical question in the saloon. She laments, "Black man came to saloon tonight. He tells me his people come from Africa. Like me, stolen from village and bring here, but man named Lincoln make war and they free. He free, I free," she said her English deteriorating under the strain. "The civil war was fought to free Negroes. You mean laws for China people not the same?"(139)In the society that is dormant and unresponsive to the suffering that Lalu underwent, one has no other alternative but to fight with one’s own will power, to extricate oneself from the dire straits. Challenge the destiny, and do not get browbeaten with its cruel strokes. Example 2 When fate reigns and strikes hard, and when no human help arrives from any source, an individual that too a woman feels powerless. Sexual exploitation is the worst suffering for a woman of virtue. On many occasions Lalu feels powerless. Initially she is sold for two bags of seed by none other than her own father. Poverty is such a worst curse and at the receiving end was Lalu, at the tender age of thirteen. Next, bandits kidnap and beat Lalu and how can a girl of that age defend herself? She is then sold to Madam. She finally succeeds in her attempt to escape, hides in a bat cave, but is hotly pursued and captured. She is taken to the saloon where she is sold to slavery and she encounters, “Bearded demon miners in faded flannel shirts and worn corduroy pants stuffed into heavy, mud caked boots.”(123) Utterly powerless she laments and the author writes about her plight, “They were all the same. Hungry. Like the coyotes she heard howling in the night. And she was their prey.”(123)Even after her ownership is transferred to Charlie after he wins her in a poker game she feels powerless. Though the bitter experiences of Lalu’s life describe the subjugation of women and denial of rights and freedom both in China and United States, she does not give up the fight to restore her self-esteem till the last. McCunn writes, "It (is) not luck that determines the rise and fall of cakes or bread or lives, but skill, strength, and the right ingredients."(233)Lalu refuses a walk-over to the fate and does not allow it to dominate her life. She handles her adversity well. 4) 1 other example from my own experiences, my observations or other readings I have done. The working of the fate is vividly described in the book “Night” by Elie Wiesel. He describes how he suffered as part of the great human tragedy during the course of II World War, in the years 1941-1945. He lived witnessing the mass of flesh of the rotting bodies, who were his near and dear ones and those who belonged to his community. He was overpowered by fate at every moment, for years at a stretch, and did not know whether he would live to see another day. For some time he questioned the system of dispensation of justice by God. A section of human beings was behaving like demons and controlling the fate of helpless victims lodged in the concentration camps through guns. In such grim circumstances anyone would become cynical. The death dance of the fate had reached such pathetic level; babies were thrown into gas chambers and killed by spraying bullets. Wiesel was shifted from one concentration camp to another and every time, he thought that it was his last journey, he saw his fellow campers killed like animals. Wiesel was a boy of fifteen when all this was happening right in front of his eyes, but the saving grace of the fate was that his father was along with him. Even after going through such horrid phase, Wiesel does not lament his individual fate, and advocates the path of reconciliation. I consider this approach is the defeat of the design of the fate, as Wiesel does not take the revengeful stance. He pleads for change of heart of each individual and wants such an orientation needs to be given right from childhood. This is the challenge that Wiesel offered to fate compelling it to beat the retreat. As an optimist, he says in his Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech delivered in Oslo on December 10, 1986, “Thank you for building bridges between people and generations. Thank you, above all, for helping humankind make peace it’s most urgent and noble aspiration.”(117) From the brink of precipice where fate led him, Wiesel returned to embrace humanity, strengthened by the faith of his inner world and affirmed that some Supreme Power controlled the managed the world. The life of Wiesel is the lesson for all right-thinking persons to understand that fate is subservient to will power of the human being. Conclusion: The agonies which Lalu had to go through were slavery of the worst form. Apart from the physical labor, she was sexually abused, and that was the worst part of her life. This is a stirring novel that pierces the hearts of the reader and sets him thinking. How many Lalus are required for the reformation of the society? Not alone framing of the laws, but the individual grit and heroism and the will to resist all sorts of negativities can change the society. Works Cited Lum McCunn, Ruthanne. Thousand Pieces of Gold (Bluestreak) Beacon Press; August 25, 2004 Wiesel, Elie. Night (Oprahs Book Club). Trans. Marion Wiesel. Hill and Wang, 2006 Read More

If perfect happiness does not fall to one’s lot, one needs to learn to live life with the available happiness. Lalu changed her life with her own strength and intelligence and through her fighting qualities of head and heart. 3) 2 examples from the novel itself that support the thesis. Example 1 Through the trials and tribulations of the young but spirited girl Lalu, McCunn highlights the importance of freedom in the life of an individual. Lalu goes through the ordeal of trades of her body from bandits, houses of sexual pleasure and finally to the bar owner in the Gold Mountains, and she understands her worth and the importance of her body from the point of view of the secular world, and that of her spirit by self-assessment.

She has the good estimate of the disposition of wicked society towards a helpless women caught in the wrong place. Lalu laments, “So long as the woman satisfies that muscle below their belt, they don’t care about anything else”(95)Her reply to the remark from the comrade from the auction house block, “You’re thin, but beautiful and sound,”(103) is an issue for the social activists and law makers, for soul-searching. She retorts, “What does that change except my price?”(103) Lalu raises an important sociological and historical question in the saloon.

She laments, "Black man came to saloon tonight. He tells me his people come from Africa. Like me, stolen from village and bring here, but man named Lincoln make war and they free. He free, I free," she said her English deteriorating under the strain. "The civil war was fought to free Negroes. You mean laws for China people not the same?"(139)In the society that is dormant and unresponsive to the suffering that Lalu underwent, one has no other alternative but to fight with one’s own will power, to extricate oneself from the dire straits.

Challenge the destiny, and do not get browbeaten with its cruel strokes. Example 2 When fate reigns and strikes hard, and when no human help arrives from any source, an individual that too a woman feels powerless. Sexual exploitation is the worst suffering for a woman of virtue. On many occasions Lalu feels powerless. Initially she is sold for two bags of seed by none other than her own father. Poverty is such a worst curse and at the receiving end was Lalu, at the tender age of thirteen.

Next, bandits kidnap and beat Lalu and how can a girl of that age defend herself? She is then sold to Madam. She finally succeeds in her attempt to escape, hides in a bat cave, but is hotly pursued and captured. She is taken to the saloon where she is sold to slavery and she encounters, “Bearded demon miners in faded flannel shirts and worn corduroy pants stuffed into heavy, mud caked boots.”(123) Utterly powerless she laments and the author writes about her plight, “They were all the same. Hungry. Like the coyotes she heard howling in the night.

And she was their prey.”(123)Even after her ownership is transferred to Charlie after he wins her in a poker game she feels powerless. Though the bitter experiences of Lalu’s life describe the subjugation of women and denial of rights and freedom both in China and United States, she does not give up the fight to restore her self-esteem till the last. McCunn writes, "It (is) not luck that determines the rise and fall of cakes or bread or lives, but skill, strength, and the right ingredients.

"(233)Lalu refuses a walk-over to the fate and does not allow it to dominate her life. She handles her adversity well. 4) 1 other example from my own experiences, my observations or other readings I have done. The working of the fate is vividly described in the book “Night” by Elie Wiesel. He describes how he suffered as part of the great human tragedy during the course of II World War, in the years 1941-1945. He lived witnessing the mass of flesh of the rotting bodies, who were his near and dear ones and those who belonged to his community.

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