Literature - Essay Writing Paragraphs Guide

Point - Your point should be:

• A particular feature or technique
• A content point
• In a Play: a character revelation, a truth revealed, a technique, a plot point, symbolic item/phrase
  
• In a Novel: characters, plot points, symbols, repeated images
  
• In Poetry: techniques, descriptions of subject, structure
  

Quote - Your quote:

• Must be taken directly from the text
• Should be embedded (Jim argues "we should ...")
  
• Should link to your point
• Can have an ellipsis (...) to take out middle bits of longer ones

Comment/Explanation Options

1. Must link back to the point and question (how does what you found link to the idea you had?)
   
2. Should explain how the quote demonstrates the technique you found.
3. Should explain the significance of the quote
4. Should have the key words selected to show language (e.g. the use of the word ...)
5. Could mention audience response.

For example in Empire of the Sun:

Point - In the extract, Ballard uses Mr Maxted to show how independent Jim has become.
Quote - In the extract, Jim "calmed himself, then wormed his shoulders from Mr Maxted's embrace"
Comment Options
1. The fact that Jim wants to move away from Mr Maxted just as the Japanese soldiers patrol shows that he has broken away from his older life, as he really admired Mr Maxted earlier in the novel.
2. Before, Jim admired Mr Maxted and talks about becoming him and now he is trying to get away from Mr Maxted.
3. This quote is significant because it is the first time Jim has deliberately rejected Mr Maxted's kindness to stand alone.
4. This used of the word "embrace" indicates Mr Maxted's kindess for Jim and the fact that Jim "wormed" away shows how he is rejecting his old life.
5. This is significant as the audience realises that Jim is rejecting kindness from others in order to remain independent.

Differences Between Book and Film in Empire of the Sun

Differences List
* Meeting Basie is different
* Hospital Scene is added
* Rescuing men w/ his father
* Dr Rawlins = Dr Ransome
* Victors = The Vincents
* Scene with the Japanese pilots and saluting is added in
* Frank is NOT at the camp
* The ending is NOT happy ever after

Actual Timeline

* Shanghai
* Hospital
* Amehurst Avenue
* Basie (on the boat)
(Captured)
* Open Air Cinema
(Meets Dr R)
* Turned Away from Camps
* Lunghua
* March to Nantao
(Mr Maxted Dies and Atomic Bomb)
* Olympic Stadium
(Basie returns but leaves again)
(Pilot back to life)
* Lunghua
(Dr Ransome meets him there)
* Home (Re-united with his parents)

Empire of the Sun Plot Summary

Chapter Title Key Events Jim Jim/Parents Jim/Chinese Jim/Basie Jim/MrMaxted Jim/Dr Ransome Jim/Japanese
PART ONE
1 The Eve of Pearl Harbour Coffins, Sunday service, newsreels, war, changing for the party, Vera Bridge, understanding of war, amazement at the idea of living in one room Father - "I'll kill you" Amah - "I'll kill you"
2 Beggars and Acrobats Front gate, beggars, refugees and police, toy planes, party at Dr Lockwood's, drained swimming pool Cantonese acrobats and weeding women Mr Maxted (description) and the swimming pool Jim's attraction to the Japanese
3 The Abandoned Aerodrome Burial mound, plane wreck, old battle ground, Japanese platoon, finders keepers, tyre tread on the beggar's foot, move to the hotel, hunchbacks Guilt at putting his father in danger, sorrow for the beggar, enjoyment of the Shanghai streets Jim dreams of being a Japanese pilot
4 The Attack on the Petrel Paper flowers, watching the harbour, signal lamps, attack on the Petrel, leaving the hotel, Japanese tank, wounded sailors, "get out of the car!", yellow silk glove, bayonets in the sun. Thinks he may have started the war Father and Jim try to rescue the petty officer - separated from his mother
5 Escape from the Hospital Children's ward, Japanese aircraft, Japanese victory, evacuation of the prisoners Father taken to military prison Plane spotting with the guard
6 The Youth with the Knife Public executions, Jim attacked for his watch, home is empty, in through the rubbish chute, footprints, the smashed mirror Image of a small exploding boy Looks to the Japanese for protection
7 The Drained Swimming-Pool Waiting, playing games, food, sinister drained swimming pool, cycling to the Raymonds', the Maxteds' apartment, Mr Guerevitch, knocked off his bicycle Slapped by the Raymonds' amah
8 Picnic Time Living at the Maxteds', repairing the bicycle, changes on the streets, breaking into the Belgian dentist's house Getting thinner
9 An End to Kindness Scavenging, sick and thin, the Japanese patrol, thrown out, kindness counts for nothing The strange face in a strange mirror Begs fish and rice from the Japanese patrol
10 The Stranded Freighter The funeral pier, following the truck, losing the bicycle, paddling out to the sunken freighter, the American Starving - down to his last liqueur chocolates
11 Frank and Basie Appraisal, teeth, new name for a new life, food, new words, Basie controlling Frank, corpses and gold teeth Jamie becomes Jim Basie (descriptions)
12 Dance Music Trading, stories about his parents, exploring the suburbs, planning to dump Jim, capture Doubling of identity - mirror self (coping strategy) Feels sorry for the destitute Chinese Basie (descriptions)
13 The Open-Air Cinema Mr and Mrs Partridge, hostiliity to the Eurasian women, avoiding mirrors, condition of newly-arrived prisoners, real purpose of the detention centre, Basie's mess tin
14 American Aircraft American planes, caring for Basie, making himself useful, only drinking rice water, no self-sacrifice about food, collecting the rations of the dead, no guilt Never looked after anything except an angora rabbit which died Basie teaches Jim to make himself useful and to bow to Sgt Uchida
15 On their Way to the Camps Evacuation of healthier prisoners, Basie leaves Jim, knowing the way to Woosung
16 The Water Ration Chapei, getting lost, talk of aeroplanes, the railway line, Jim begs for water Beginning to enjoy the war No resentment at Basie's deserting Jim for the other boys Dr Ransome, undefeated Englishman (description). Disapproval of Jim. Ironically protected by Japanese in area where he would have been killed. Feels closer to the Japanese because of his willingness to take risks.
17 The Landscape of Airfields Conversation with Dr R, man-flying kites, fighter base, the unbuilt camp, sweet-potatoes, constellations Dr Ransome (description) - Jim suspicious of him Imagines he will join the Japanese air force
18 Vagrants The pontoon bridge, worsening condition of the prisoners, turned away from the internment camp by the British leaders Enjoys the war, imagines he's the leader of the group, feels closer to the conditions of the war than his old home Sad that his search for them is nearly over. Then feels they may be in the camp and rejecting him - no longer cares Dr R's wounds get worse Better relationship with the driver
19 The Runway Brewster Buffaloes, Lunghua airfield, emaciated Chinese, the runway, dust, the execution pit, the embrace of death Knows that he is going to be worked to death Hopes his parents are dead Smart Japanese soldiers like the Europeans
PART TWO
20 Lunghua Camp Pheasant trap, kendo, outside the camp, turtle, golf shoes, description of the camp, collaboration/patriotism, a game of marbles Feels uncomfortable outside the wire. Stronger than many of the men. Poor opinion of the English. Forgotten what his parents' faces. Envies other children their parents. B exposes J to danger by making him go to check the trap. J feels it is important to keep with B because of food Private Kimura - some sympathy, but would like to challenge him. Has given him English lessons.
21 The Cubicle Mr Maxted fetches the food ration, the Vincents, J's beggarly cubicle, Mrs V's "films", pictures on his wall, air raids, execution of escapees, camp as place of security, relationship with Mrs V Attraction to Mrs V
22 The University of Life Changes in Mr M, J and Mr M's partnership, waiting for the food ration, beggars inside and outside the camp, memories of concerts, lectures and school, food shortages, stealing a second sweet potato, weevils, sexuality Parents in Soochow camp, J is worried they will have changed B does not allow J to listen to his radio
23 The Air Raid The ruined assembly hall, derelict aircraft, the runway, kamikaze pilots, schoolwork, air raid, Mustangs, deaths of the pilots (one burns in his plane), the sun scorching the earth Knows that he is worth nothing, enjoyment of the war Uneasy relationship, Dr R has wasted away giving food to J, Admiration for the kamikaze pilots
24 The Hospital Dr Ransome, breaking of windows, bravery, hospital, stealing from the dead, Sgt Nagata, "difficult boy", roll call, fantasies and violent light Sgt Nagata - knows J is involved with illicit activities but can't catch him.
25 The Cemetery Garden Fertilizing the garden, the last kamikaze, burying Mr Radik, graves, souls and death, Latin and the trigonometry of war, the problem of food and survival, tomatoes and condoms Ambiguity about whether J wants the war to end J lies about remembering his parents J has to give B something every time he sees him J reminds Dr R of how people can adapt to the war. Dr R's background and ambiguity
26 The Lunghua Sophomores Amateur dramatics and rugby, the American dorm and Basie's cubicle, news, words, pheasant traps as a decoy, condoms, another sweet potato, optimism, arrival of the food ration Knows that he is being used by the Americans B's limitations - the petty thief. B is obviously using J but is also capable of some generosity.
27 The Execution Food ration halved, excitement over B-29s, boiling drinking and laundry water, magazines, beating to death of the Chinese rickshaw coolie, confrontation with Mr Vincent over the turtle Running errands stops J thinking about what would happen if the war were to end B teases J over his enthusiasm for American magazines Japanese contempt for the Chinese and the British for not intervening to rescue the coolie
28 An Escape Japanese prepare to leave, rumours of the end of the war, continuous air raids, food supplies fail, escape of Basie and two others. Return of the gendarmerie (security troops), probability of the prisoners being killed, packing for the march to Nantao, bantering with Mrs Vincent; "rememeber you're British". J and Mr M are among the few who have not stockpiled sweet potatoes. In the face of death, all Mr M can do is to remind J that he is British. J wonders whether will Mr M will stand the march and whether he would better ingratiating himself with Mrs V
29 The March to Nantao Exhaustion before they start, difficulty getting used to being outside the camp, the problem of Mr Maxted, trying to stay at the head of the column, the polluted canal, Mrs Philips looks for God and gives him her sweet potato, light and death, Japanese assess the prisoners who cannot move, belongings dropped on the road J realises that they are being taken up-country to be killed. He almost does not join the column when they move on. He holds onto his possessions with renewed determination to survive. J realises Mr M needs his help to cope with the march but realises this will compromise his own chances. Mr M encourages J to rejoin the column, thus saving his life.
30 The Olympic Stadium Encouraging Mr Maxted to keep going, the docks at Nantao, J pushes his suitcase out onto the water "like the coffin of a Chinese child", destruction of their transport ship, the stadium, sleeping beside Mr M dreaming of death and runways The disposal of the case is J's symbolic farewell to the life he has led in Lunghua - "a sentimental but pointless gesture, his first adult act." Still with Mr M, J regrets dumping his possessions because it leaves him nothing to barter
31 The Empire of the Sun American cars and looted possessions, J decided to stay with Mr M, fetching water. The light of a second sun (the atomic bomb) - a premonition of his own death. He stays while the remaining living prisoners are marched away and is robbed of his shoes. J realizes that they are being marched to death. He reverts to being called by his childhood name, "Jamie". J cares for Mr M and fetches water for him and some others, including Mrs V - "having someone to care for was the same as being cared for by someone else."
PART THREE
32 The Eurasian Hail from the wings of aircraft, the Japanese have left during the night, the Eurasian collaborator tells J about the atom bombs, golf shoes, leaving the stadium, light and death J feels as if he and the whole world are dead Mr M dies but J stays by the body for several days
33 The Kamikaze Pilot Walking back to Lunghua, a derelict Zero, the starving schoolboy pilot, the mango The young pilot gives J a mango
34 The Refrigerator in the Sky Dreams of learning to fly, parachutes, food, shooting of Pte. Kimura, Spam, Klim, Reader's Digest J fantasizes about making friends with the pilot but death of Kimura very matter of factly described
35 Lieutenant Price Whether to go home or not, communist soldiers, an American aviator, return to Lunghua, Mr Tulloch the Packard mechanic, Lt. Price, another drop, the guardhouse, dead Japanese soldier in his own cell, Price's mania Exclusion of the Chinese from the relief drops
36 The Flies Back in his room, scent of Mrs Vincent, missing people, bodies in the hospital and flies, Spam like corpses, the Japanese pilot J sees himself from Mrs V's point of view: some understanding of her Memories of another Japanese pilot
37 A Reserved Room Careless drops, neither war nor peace, magazines describing a distant war, growing strength, prisoners with Chinese wives return to prison so they can be free, the next war J feels that the war is both familiar and strange to him J wants to prepare a room for his parents
38 The Road to Shanghai Price's driving, the stadium, Tulloch killed, captured by bandits, Basie B seems to lack interest in J, is prepared to allow him to be killed
39 The Bandits The bandit gang, Capt. Soong, raiding villages, this war/the next war, words, dreams of appearing in Life magazine, the Japanese pilot, the communist village, an Nationalist armoured junk shells the village, exploding ammunition, American cruiser Soong is prepared to use J "as a dog to be worked to death" and a decoy. Change in the Chinese attitude to Europeans B the survivor because he does not dream and does not take anything for granted; us untouched by the war; expects nothing; and is therefore dangerous Dr R probably dead on the march J distracts B from shooting the Japanese pilot
40 The Fallen Airment Nationalist v Communist battles, Basie goes to raid the stadium, back to the airfield, feeding the fish, body of the young Japanese pilot The remnants of the gang avoid the armed refugees J does not tell B that the stadium has probably already been looted. B leaves him with the car to decoy the attention of Chinese militiamen
41 Rescue Mission Despair, all as good as dead, bringing the corpse to life like Dr R, the resurrection of the dead, Dr Ransome, end of the war Reunion with Dr R in the camp hospital The pilot is J's "twin" and symbol of his hopes of escape
PART FOUR
42 The Terrible City The bustle of the city, newsreels and Nationalist propaganda, films, Yang the chauffeur, unreality of home, return to Lunghua, shiny American planes, destruction of graveyard and hospital, World War III, memory of reunion with parents, urinating sailors, China's revenge, a child's coffin J is leaving for a country he does not know - part of his mind will always be in Shanghai Distance between J and his parents when they are reunited J understands what the Chinese are thinking as they are insulted by the sailors

Extract is taken form the scenes at the Open Air Cinema
Grade - B/B+

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

In this extract of Empire of the sun, Ballard uses detailed description of how Jim has changed since his parent’s last saw him. He makes Jim sound painfully thin, describing his face as “long with its deep eye-sockets and bony forehead.” This gives the impression that Jim is very unwell, however he is eager to survive.
Another way in which Ballard presents Jim to be eager of survival in the detention centre is how he thinks of his parents, and seeing them again. His wishes of seeing them again is keeping him going, “He knew ... that his parents may fail to recognize him.” This gives the impression that he will do whatever it takes to see his parents again.
From this idea of looking ahead, and into the future, I can also understand that Jim is eager of staying alive. He is thinking about seeing his parents “when he was missing his parents he often thought about aircraft.” This quote also helps us to understand throughout the novel when he is thinking about his parents. It also particularly indicates that the planes he thinks of are American Bombers. This could have something to do with thinking of survival. Basie, an American man, who Jim aspires to, as a replacement father-figure, is a strong character, and in Jim’s eyes, he will do anything to survive. Ballard could be using this as a representation of Jim’s admiration of Basie, and of survival.
Jim also is learning to become obsessed with food. This could be something that he uses to keep his mind from boredom. He is “hungry all the time,” and in this extract, it focuses a lot on Jim thinking about food. He was frustrated when he lost out at meal time when he had gone to sleep. “When he had felt feverish, he had missed his ration.” He is learning to become tougher from this, and more aware of routine. He is learning how the Japanese guards serve the food at meal times. They deliver to the mess-tins, and not to the people. This makes him think that he can survive if he keeps a mess-tin with him when food is served. However, in this extract, Jim is still feeling guilty and uneasy at trying to be ruthless with the other prisoners. “He had found himself eating (Mr. Partridge’s) watery gruel. Jim had felt uneasy.” This gives an insight into how Ballard is showing that he is still learning about how to attempt surviving over all the other prisoners.
Overall, I think from this extract Ballard presents Jim starting to establish his desperation for survival, by keeping his mind of thoughts of negativity. Jim, at the moment, is surviving on hopes and dreams alone. He is visibly sick and the only thought of looking to the future, being so sure of what will eventually happen to him, is keeping him motivated to live. This is also the introduction to where he begins learning about survival in these situations.

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.

Empire of the Sun Techniques

Language Features of Empire

• Violent imagery and language
• Jim's naivety and innocence (can be contrasted with when he really does know what is going on)
  
• Food imagery and metaphors
• Maturation
• Repeated Ideas and Language
• Scientific Language around Doctor Ransome
• Positive language around Lunghua
• Biblical, religious language
  
• Moments of Clarity (where Ballard summarizes the reality of the situation)
• Jim as the observer
• Symbolism - flies, swimming pools, aircraft, bicycles, mango
• Hierarchy of the people in Shanghai (Chinese at the bottom)
• Who is in power?
  

Basie

In your book, make detailed notes (with quotations) about the character of Basie. Considering:

• Jim’s attitude to him
• His attitude towards Jim
• His attitude towards the war
• His behaviour in the camp
• His way of survival
• His importance in terms of the plot

Useful passages and pages to consider.

• 95-9
• 101
• 115-20
• 165
• 216-21
• 223-4
• 225-6
• 236
• 317
• 318
• 321
• 322-4
• 329
• 332


Ext Read the following extract (page 116-7). This is where Jim and Basie are at the Open Air Cinema.

Characters in Empire of the Sun

Characters

Basie

Basie is an American sailor. Jim meets him before the two of them are sent to the prison camp and describes Basie as having a "bland, unmarked face from which all the copious experiences of his life had been cleverly erased." Basie is a player and tries to make money off of the war by trading anything he can. As a result, he acquires "a complete general store" at the camp.

Jim has ambivalent feelings about Basie, perceiving him as "a parasite" feeding "on the succulent terrain of the prison camps." Yet he is sometimes generous to Jim. For instance, he is the only one who gives him presents on his birthday. In addition, his confidence in the future is encouraging. However, when Jim runs into Basie and a group of bandits outside the stadium, he recognizes that "Basie had been prepared to see him die, and only Jim's lavish descriptions of the booty waiting for the bandits in the stadium ... sustained Basie's interest in Jim."

At the end of their relationship, Basie remains "the same small, finicky man ... ignoring everything but the shortest-term advantage. His one strength was that he never allowed himself to dream, because he had never been able to take anything for granted." That is why he survives so long, because the entire experience of the war had "barely touched" him.

Father

Jim's father, a serious man, tries to remain calm in the face of threats to his firm from the Communist Labor Unions, his concern for his work with the British Residents Association, and fears for Jim and his mother.

Frank

An American sailor Jim meets as he wanders around Shanghai looking for his parents, Frank introduces Jim to Basie.

Vera Frankel

Vera is Jim's nanny at Amherst Avenue, who usually follows Jim everywhere "like a guard dog." She is "a calm girl who never smiled and found everything strange about Jim and his parents." Her family fled Poland after Hitler's invasion. They now live with thousands of Jewish refugees in "a gloomy district of tenements and faded apartment blocks." The fact that she and her parents all live together in one room amazes and fascinates Jim.

Jim

The novel, opening from the eve of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, focuses on the story of Jim, an eleven-year-old British boy who lives with his family in Shanghai. Before the Japanese take over Shanghai, Jim lives a comfortable life in the city's suburbs. He has seen some of the devastating results of the war, but seems to be detached from them. Completely absorbed in his own privileged world, he spends his days riding his bicycle around the city, dreaming of being a fighter pilot like the Japanese pilots he sees flying overhead. When he is separated from his parents after the Japanese take over the city, his world drastically changes.

At the detention center, Jim's bravery emerges as he learns important survival skills. On his way to the prison camp, Jim "already felt himself apart from the others, who had behaved as passively as the Chinese peasants. Jim realized that he was closer to the Japanese, who had seized Shanghai and sunk the American fleet at Pearl Harbor," pilots "ready to chance everything on little more than their own will." At this point, Jim retains his romantic dreams of heroism.

During his three years at the prison camp, Jim exhibits his strength, his curiosity, his energy, and his eagerness to please. Early on, he decides he won't allow himself to become too ill and so is able to perform countless errands for others. He enjoys the idea that his errands help keep the others alive. He works hard in order "to keep the camp going." Dr. Ransome often refers to him as a "free spirit" roving across the camp, "hunting down some new idea in his head."

He is curious about everything, including the war. He discovers what it takes to survive, learning how to get extra food and how to fight those who would try to take his rations. While trying to keep himself alive, he sometimes takes food meant for others and feels guilty, acknowledging that "parts of his mind and body frequently separated themselves from each other."

Jim's experiences in the camp change him from an innocent boy to an experienced man. He learns to accept the cruelty he sees around him and comes to understand the true horror of war. Yet he also learns that "having someone to care for was the same as being cared for by someone else."

Private Kimura

A Japanese guard at the camp who sometimes invites Jim into his bungalow and allows him to wear his armor.

Dr. Lockwood

Dr. Lockwood is the Vice-Chairman of the British Residents Association. He throws elaborate parties, including the "fancy-dress Christmas" party Jim and his family go to at the beginning of the novel.

Mr. Maxted

Mr. Maxted is the father of Jim's closest friend, Patrick. Jim admired this architect-turnedentrepreneur who had designed the Metropole Theater and numerous Shanghai nightclubs. He imagined himself growing up like Mr. Maxted, "the perfect type of the Englishman who had adapted himself to Shanghai, something that Jim's father, with his seriousness of mind, had never really done."

Mr. Maxted is also sent to Lunghua Camp where he helps distribute food to the prisoners. Jim runs errands for him in the camp and cares for him during the trek to the Olympic Stadium "out of nostalgia for his childhood dream of growing up one day to be like him." Mr. Maxted is also kind to Jim at the camp and encourages him to continue on the march when Jim is about to give in to death. Mr. Maxted dies soon after they get there.

Mother

Jim's mother is "a gentle and clever woman whose main purposes in life, he had decided, were to go to parties and help him with his Latin homework." After the war, when she and Jim's father return to Amherst Avenue, they take a long time to recover from their experience at the prison camp. When Jim is reunited with his parents, he decides they are too worn out from their own experiences in the camp to hear about his experiences.

Lieutenant Price

Price takes over Lunghua Camp after the Japanese leave. He shoots Private Kimura.

Dr. Ransome

When Jim first meets Dr. Ransome, the British doctor in the camp, Ransome is in his late twenties, with "the self-assured manner of the Royal Navy officers" Jim had seen at the parties. At first, Jim distrusts him and perceives Ransome as selfish and arrogant. On the way to the camp, Jim notices that the doctor is "less interested in the dying old people than he pretended."

In the camp, however, Jim's opinion of him changes. He still considers him selfish, but on oc- casion the doctor begins to reveal his generosity and spirit of self-sacrifice when he often gives Jim some of his own food. He also takes an interest in Jim's education, always coming up with homework problems for him to complete. Due to this kindness, Jim is determined to keep Dr. Ransome alive. While he shows obvious affection for Jim, he "resented [him] for revealing an obvious truth about the war, that people were only too able to adapt to it."

Mr. Tulloch

Mr. Tulloch is the chief mechanic at the Packard agency in Shanghai. He lets Jim come back into the camp and keeps him out of Price's way.

Mrs. Vincent

Jim shares a room at the camp with Mrs. Vincent, her husband, and their six-year-old son. She resents his presence and makes him feel unwelcome. In fact, she seems detached from everything around her, even her own son. Jim often has adolescent sexual fantasies about her. By the end of their stay at the camp, Jim grants her a certain respect, deciding she is "one of the few people in Lunghua Camp who appreciated the humor of it all." Mrs. Vincent dies in the march back from the stadium.

Themes in Empire of the Sun

Themes

Coming of Age

The main focus of Empire of the Sun is Jim's maturation from child to man during World War II. After the war begins and he is separated from his parents, he spends the remainder of the book trying to reunite with them. He learns to survive the brutal conditions he faces in detention and prison camps. As a result of these experiences, he learns important lessons about himself and human nature.

Change and Transformation

As Ballard traces Jim's maturation, he explores the transformations he experiences. The biggest change occurs when Jim is wrenched from his comfortable, privileged life in Shanghai and forced to live, as do the Chinese, with deprivation and the constant threat of death. This experience brings Jim to new levels of self-discovery as he realizes his ingenuity, courage, and resilience in the face of tragedy.

Alienation and Loneliness

Jim must learn to cope with the alienation and loneliness that result when he is separated from his parents. As an only child, Jim had used his imagination to fill lonely days, envisioning himself as a Japanese fighter pilot. His imagination also helped Jim combat the loneliness he suffered after losing his parents.

While in camp, Jim tries to erase his sense of alienation through his interaction with the other prisoners. He considers the prisoners to be almost an extended family, and thus comes to feel a measure of safety while he is interned there. In this way, he tries to create order in a chaotic and dangerous world.

Strength and Weakness

Jim's ability to cope with his harsh surroundings reveals his strength of character and the nature of human adaptability. While others escape through death, Jim resolves to survive. In order to do this, he learns how to eat insects and to ingratiate himself with his captors.

Violence and Cruelty

Jim is able to recognize the capacity for violence and cruelty in others as well as himself. After seeing so much cruelty, Jim comes to understand its causes. For example, "Jim knew that Lieutenant Price would have liked to get him alone and then beat him to death, not because he was cruel, but because only the sight of Jim's agony would clear away all the pain that he himself had endured."

Jim often struggles with his own capacity for cruelty. In order to survive, he obtains extra food, which sometimes means less for others. He also learns how to defend himself against others trying to take food from him. As a result, "few boys of his own age dared to touch" him and "few men." Sometimes stealing food makes him feel guilty and he acknowledges that "parts of his mind and body frequently separated themselves from each other."

Appearances and Reality

By the end of the novel, Jim has let go of his innocent ideas about the nature of war. As a child, he had considered war to be "an heroic adventure filled with scenes of sacrifice and stoicism, of countless acts of bravery" like those detailed on the newsreels he watches and the magazines he reads. By the end of the novel, however, Jim recognizes the devastating reality of war.

Empire of the Sun Plot Summary

Eleven-year-old Jamie — or Jim as he prefers to be called — his father and his mother live in a wealthy European area within the city and are preparing to go to a party.

With the threat of war, most of the European women and children have been evacuated to Hong Kong and Singapore. Jim's family remains. While riding his bicycle through the streets of Shanghai, he dreams of being a fighter pilot like the Japanese pilots that fly over the city.

On the morning of the 7th, Jim witnesses the Japanese attack on British and American warships docked at Shanghai (which occurred at the same time as the attack on Pearl Harbor), and in the ensuing turmoil he becomes separated from his parents.
After the attack, the Japanese intern the Europeans living in the city. For the next few months, Jim roams the city on his bicycle in constant search for food, shelter, and a recognizable face. Exhausted from long trips around the city and a lack of food, he decides to give himself up to the Japanese.
As he roams the city, Jim meets Frank and Basie, two American sailors. The three are soon captured and Basie and Jim are sent to a detention center. On arrival at the camp, Jim becomes seriously ill. With Basie's help, he learns how to get enough food to keep himself alive.

Jim and Basie are transported outside the city to the prison camp at Lunghua. During his three years there, Jim faces hunger, disease, and death. As the American bombing raids intensify, their meager rations are reduced.
Jim spends his time running errands for Basie, Dr. Ransome, and others. He tries to ingratiate himself with both prisoners and guards to gain company, food, and gifts, like a shiny pair of golf shoes. However, his boundless energy and unflagging determination to survive sometimes annoy the other prisoners.
He enjoys visiting the American prisoners, and reads copies of Reader's Digest and Popular Mechanics. He plays chess and does homework problems assigned by Dr. Ransome. Over time, he forgets what his parents looked like.


In August 1945, after American air attacks become a daily event, the Japanese evacuate the camp to the Olympic Stadium outside Shanghai. Jim finds it hard to leave the relative security of the camp. During the difficult journey there, many of the prisoners die. At one point, Jim becomes seduced by the idea of death, and decides to stop along the side of the road. Mr. Maxted, however, coaxes him on, insisting, "we need you to lead the way."


Mr. Maxted dies after they are herded inside the stadium. Jim acknowledges that "he had been trying to keep the war alive, and with it the security he had known in the camp. Now it was time to rid himself of Lunghua, and face up squarely to the present, however uncertain, the one rule that had sustained him through the years of the war."
That night the Japanese soldiers vanish and Jim sees a strange flash of light that floods the stadium. Later he is told the light came from the atomic bomb explosion at Nagasaki, reflected across the China Sea. Not knowing where to go, Jim decides to walk back to Lunghua.

As he walks back to Lunghua, American planes drop canisters of food and magazines that contain tales of the heroic exploits of the American soldiers. Jim devours the food and eagerly reads the magazines; the cans of Spam and candy bars make the "most satisfying" meal of his life. Back in the camp, unsure of what to do next, he notes that "peace had come, but it failed to fit properly." At times he is not sure that the war is really over.


Jim soon leaves with Lieutenant Price, an American who had taken control of Lunghua. Price, however makes a detour to the Olympic Stadium, hoping to steal some looted cars and furniture. After they arrive, a Chinese soldier shoots Price. As a threatening gang of bandits surrounds Jim, he recognizes Basie among them. After Basie and the gang strand him on a mud flat, he returns to the camp where he is reunited with Dr. Ransome.


Two months later Jim has been reunited with his parents and is preparing for his departure for England. As his parents slowly recover from their years at a prison camp in Soochow, Jim returns by bicycle to his old haunts in the city. He realizes that "only part of his mind would leave Shanghai. The rest would remain there forever, returning on the tide like the coffins launched from the funeral piers at Nantao."