1. Luo : A Characterization
Abishek Puri 11N1

2. Background Information
• Pg 4 “ two [Ma and Luo]... city youths”
• Pg 6 “ Luo was eighteen years old”
• Pg 6 “ Our first taste of re-education”
• Pg 8 “ Luo’s father, a famous dentist”
• Pg 8 "mentioned to his students that he..fixed Mao's teeth"
• Pg 9 " written on the slab were his name and his crime : REACTIONARY"
• Pg 10 " the whole crowd screamed in unison"

3. Relationship with Ma
Pg 9 “ We grew up together...shared all sorts of experiences”
Pg 9 “ Luo was the best friend I ever had”
Pg 10 “ without saying a word, Luo punched me.”
Pg 16 “ I did as he said”
Pg 137 “ would you guard the little seamstress for me?”
Pg 138 “ How blindly Luo trusted me!”
Pg 138 “ my sole preoccupation was to honor the faith he had in me”

4. Relationship with LCS
Pg 25 “ She’s not civilized, at least not enough for me!”
Pg 32 “ Say hello to your friend the fiddler”
Pg 33 “ Although Luo was suffering.. he claimed he was already well enough to go to .... where the Little Seamstress lived”
Pg 55 “ We made love there, against the trunk”
Pg 58 “ read the passage from Balzac to her word for word”
Pg 105 “ the risk Luo had been taking everyday “
Pg 168 “All the time we spent reading to her has certainly paid off”
Pg 172 “ she had learnt one thing from Balzac”
Pg 127 “ They were coupling underwater”

5. Characterization
Audacious :
Pg 5 “Mozart is thinking of Chairman Mao, Luo broke in”
Pg 5 “ The audacity!”
Pg 15 “ Luo had a brainwave: ...slid the hands of the clock back”
Pg 15 “ sheer audacity of our trick”
Pg 25 “ Now take off your left shoe and sock.”
Pg 55 “ We made love there, against the trunk.”
Pg 64 “ Luo went on in his suave con-man voice”
Pg 65 “ Con-man Luo stood next to us”
Pg 65 “ All the serious air of an official interpreter”
Pg 68 “ Its for an important official journal, Luo said in a confidential tone”
Pg 85 “ to carry out our plan to steal the secret suitcase”
Pg 86 “ his assertions that first-time burglars had luck on their side”
Pg 107 “ I watched Luo until .... the end of the ridge, which I was beginning to think of as purgatory”

6. Characterization
Superiority :
Pg 6 “ Luo ... smoked quietly, like a man.”
Pg 10 “ Luo punched me”
Pg 25 “ She’s not civilized, at least not enough for me!”
Pg 33 “ confident air of a conqueror”
Pg 165 “ Luo was drunk”
Susceptible to disease :
Pg 29 “ Luo fell ill. It was malaria”
Pg 33 “ Luo was suffering from recurrent bouts of fever”

7. Stylistic Features: Symbolism &
Foreshadowing
Pg 131 “ I flung my key ring into the pool”
Pg 132 “ I shall be returning to my parent’s home without my
keys”
Pg 165 “ bonfire the books....Luo, the arsonist”