Why does Minnie let the Japanese soldiers take a number of women refugees? What do you think you would have done in the same circumstances?ġ3. Why does Minnie feel so guilty about her and take her under her wing?ġ2. Describe the “madwoman” in Nanjing Requiem. Why do you think Minnie and Anling believe this?ġ1. “What this country needed was Christianity, often told me, and I shared her belief.” (p. Describe their conflicting views of the way to deal with history, memory, and national atrocities.ġ0. That’s a way of survival,” Minnie responds, “History should be recorded as it happened so it can be remembered with little room for doubt and controversy” (p. When Anling comments that “most people are good at forgetting. Why do you think Ha Jin begins his novel with a young boy’s graphic, horrific story of what he saw as he ran from the college to the Safety Zone Committee headquarters in the early days of the occupation? How does this set the tone for the rest of the novel?ĩ. Do you agree with his reviewers that the language is more direct, blunter and more plainspoken? Why do you think Ha Jin decided to use this tone?Ĩ. Reviewers have commented that the language of this novel is different from other Ha Jin novels: “a matter-of-fact, plainspoken narrative” ( Kirkus Reviews) “bluntness-jarringly effective-different from his previous works” ( Library Journal) “writing with unnerving austerity” ( Booklist). Why do Minnie, Anling, and the gardener go to great lengths to keep the college garden flourishing regardless of the chaos and destruction occurring all around them?ħ. Describe some of the trees and flowers in the novel. Gardens and the natural landscape play a part in this novel, despite its taking place in a large Chinese city. Why is Minnie so embarrassed that the local Chinese view her as a living goddess?Ħ. How are Minnie’s views of God and Christianity different from that of the local Chinese Christians? Explain the difference between the American and the Chinese views on divinity and humanity. Discuss the role of religion in the novel, especially Christianity. Why has Ha Jin chosen American Minnie Vautrin’s story to tell within the larger framework of the Rape of Nanjing? Why not choose a Chinese woman’s story? Or a Chinese man’s?ĥ. ![]() What does the word “requiem” in the title refer to? What does it imply? Why do you think Ha Jin chose this as the title for this novel?Ĥ. Dennison and Minnie between the foreigners living in Nanjing and the Chinese citizens between teachers and students between those living in the dormitories and those not between men and women? Does any one person or group emerge victorious over another?ģ. In what ways is this novel about power relationships-between the Japanese and Chinese, between soldiers and civilians between Dr. Why does Ha Jin tell the story of Nanjing and Minnie Vautrin in Anling’s eyes and voice? What does her voice bring to the novel and to Minnie’s story? What are Anling’s strengths and weaknesses as a character and a narrator? Is her version of the events believable? Does her voice change over the course of the novel?Ģ. In Minnie Vautrin, he has given us an indelible portrait of a woman whose convictions and bravery prove, in the end, to be no match for the maelstrom of history.Īt once epic and intimate, Nanjing Requiem is historical fiction at its most resonant. With extraordinarily evocative precision, Ha Jin recreates the terror, the harrowing deprivations, and the menace of unexpected violence that defined life in Nanjing during the occupation. Even when order and civility are eventually restored, Vautrin remains deeply embattled, and she is haunted by the lives she could not save. In the aftermath of the invasion, the school becomes a refugee camp for more than ten thousand homeless women and children, and Vautrin must struggle, day after day, to intercede on behalf of the hapless victims. ![]() In 1937, with the Japanese poised to invade Nanjing, Minnie Vautrin-an American missionary and the dean of Jinling Women’s College-decides to remain at the school, convinced that her American citizenship will help her safeguard the welfare of the Chinese men and women who work there. Introduction Nanjing Requiem is a searing new novel that unfurls during one of the darkest moments of the twentieth century: the Rape of Nanjing. Marked by an unnerving austerity, best-selling and award-winning author Ha Jin examines a period in Chinese history wracked by inexplicable terror and miraculous resistance. The introduction, discussion questions, suggestions for further reading, and author biography that follow are designed to enhance your reading group’s discussion of Nanjing’s Requiem.
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