Empire of the Sun Sample Essay

Extract for the question taken from the scenes at the Open Air Cinema
Grade A+

How does Ballard bring to life Jim’s quest for survival in this extract?

Jim’s quest for survival is something which can be noticed throughout the entire book, the fact that he never gives up and always wants to continue to search for his parents. Ballard uses different techniques to bring Jim’s quest for survival to life and therefore make it more interesting for the reader.
One of the ways that Ballard brings Jims quest for survival to life is by using graphic description. ‘Once, without realising it, he had found himself eating the watery gruel. Jim had felt uneasy, and stared at his guilty hands. Parts of his mind and body frequently separated themselves from each other.’ This quote brings it to life by using graphic description by making Jim describe himself with words such as ‘uneasy’ and ‘guilty’. It is so good because it is not normal to hear a boy of Jims’ age talking about themselves in that way; it’s not good to hear them undermining themselves like that.
Jims’ age is something in itself that brings Jims quest for survival to life in the book. ‘Sometimes they mimicked his voice during his fevers. Jim smiled at them and returned to his seat.’ Here Jims’ age can be shown because he is almost unaffected by the aggression and hostility shown by the Eurasian women, and even smiles at them. I think this brings Jims quest for survival to life because his inability to understand why people are angry with him highlights the fact that he is so young and still trying to get through the war and find his parents, which leads into my next point which is also about Jims parents.
Jims’ constant referring to his parents is also a good method of bringing his quest for survival to life. ‘He knew that he was thinner than he had been before the war, and that his parents might fail to recognise him.’ By Jim constantly talking about his parents and what will happen when he finds them after the war, he is reminding the reader of how young he is by still being optimistic that he will find them still despite everything that has happened so far. This is a good way of making Jims’ quest for survival come to life because it makes the reader see Jim as the young child that he is.
Another thing that Jim is constantly referring to is his obsession with the Japanese. ‘After months of roving the streets of Shanghai Jim had finally managed to give himself up to the Japanese forces.’ Jim always talking about the Japanese, not only in this extract but throughout the entire book highlights his obsession with the Japanese. This brings Jim’s quest for survival to life because it shows how Jim doesn’t really full understand how dangerous the Japanese are.
Another thing that is good at bringing Jims’ quest for survival to life is Ballard’s use of Irony; we see it throughout the entire book, as well as in this extract. ‘Although he was hungry all the time, he was happy to be in the detention centre.’ The use of irony is interesting because it makes the reader think about exactly what Ballard is saying, and makes them realise that at the time the people there may have had to use irony at the time to help them to survive.
One of the most interesting of Ballard’s techniques, not only in this extract but throughout the entire book is his use of Juxtaposition. I think that this quote from the extract is a good example of his use of Juxtaposition, ‘He watched a Kawanishi flying boat cross the river. The drone of its engines was comforting, and reminded him of all his dreams of flying.’ I think that this is a good way of bringing Jims quest for survival to life because, like irony, it makes the reader think about the images that Jim is seeing and what he is going through, and understand how he still sees the nicer thing in a scene which is actually filled with sadness or anger.
In conclusion, I think that although Ballard uses many different techniques to bring Jims’ quest for survival to life, I think that the most effective one is by making Jim constantly remind the reader about certain things like his parents and his obsession with the Japanese. I think this because it reminds the reader of just how young Jim is, and that despite the fact that there is still a war going on around him he is still worrying about the smaller things.