¶ … Life and Death in Shanghai" by Nien Cheng, "Atonement" by Ian McEwan and "The Violent Bear it Away" by Flannery O'Connor.
This paper will analyze how the three books demonstrate the significance of truth in one's life and how big a priority it is or isn't.
Search For Truth
Is Truth the winner in the end? Is the battle between Good or Evil always by won by Good? Could lies have terrible consequences on not only one's own life but on others? These are some of the questions that are raised and/or answered in Life and Death in Shanghai, Atonement and The Violent Bear It All.
Life and Death in Shanghai" by Nien Cheng is a true account of how Nien Cheng's life was persecuted and imprisoned during the time of Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution in China. (1966-1976).
During this time, Nien Cheng became a victim of the revolution. Her home was looted by the Red Guards and she was imprisoned and falsely accused of espionage. During her imprisonment, she was excessively tortured so that she would confess to crimes she had not committed. The book highlights how despite so much torture, Nien Cheng refused to confess and was kept in solitary confinement for over six years. Her health deteriorated and she suffered through tremendous anxiety on account of worrying over the fate of her only child Meiping.
The supremacy of truth over everything else is clearly highlighted in Nein's book and is clearly evident from her own behavior. Throughout her persecution and torture, she never gave in and never ever confessed a lie. Through her determination to always maintain the truth and nothing but the truth, she proved the ascendancy of the human spirit over tyranny. This is the most fascinating thing about this book that even though she was under tremendous pressure and went through countless interrogations, not once did she give up; not once did she confess to the lie. As she writes in her book, "The more logical and intelligent course was to face persecution no matter what I might have to endure,"(Life and Death in Shanghai by Nien Cheng). For...
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