Jim Quotes
"an heroic adventure filled with scenes of sacrifice and stoicism, of countless acts of bravery"
Jim’s naïve view of war at the beginning of the novel
"dances and garden parties, the countlessbottles of scotch consumed in aid of the war effort"
(Good for setting too)Jim observes his parents and the parents of his friendsfill their days with these. This intense
present was created in part by the impending threat of war, but theEuropeans remained curiously detached from its
reality and do little to prepare.
“Jim told himself he never moved because he was warm under the snow”
Jim is protected from the harsher side of life. He sees the beggar at the end of the drive, but does not acknowledge the
truth.
"bones of the unburied dead rose to the surface of the paddy-fields" … "bloody heads of Communist soldiers mounted
on spikes along the Bund."
(Good for setting too) Although Jim notices these things more than the other Europeans, he is still protected by his
innocence and his sense of superiority because of his race.
“ pieces of himself seemed to fly across the room, scattered through the empty house…below this jewelled icon of a
small exploding boy.”
SIMILE. Mimics Jim’s emotional state and the reality that the life he has known has shattered and fragmented.
Emphasises his fragility and vulnerability – glass, and his youth.
"already felt himself apart from the others, who had behaved as passively as the Chinese peasants.”
Jim sees himself more like the Japanese – he still has a romantic view of war
"entire upbringing could have been designed to prevent him from meeting people like Basie,
but the war had changed everything...All his experience of the previous two months told him not to trust anyone,
except perhaps the Japanese."
Jim realises how protected his life has been. Even after experiencing the deprivation and despair of the
detainmentand prison camp, Jim will retain his respect for the Japanese, an attitude that sets him apart from most of
theEuropeans who have demonized the enemy.
“At home, if he did anything wrong, the consequences seemed to overlay everything for days. With Basie, they
vanished instantly.”
Could be used for Basie or Jim. We see that Jim understands his own life was bound by rules of behaviour and
accepting responsibility for the choices we make. Basie does not live like that – suggesting a disregard for the ‘rights
and wrongs’ dictated by society.
"he felt a strange lightness in his head, not because his parents had rejected him, butbecause he expected them to do
so, and no longer cared."
When turned away from the first camp Jim feels relief that his parents no longer want him. There is NO
SUGGESTION his parents are really there, but this is how Jim feels.
"to keep the camp going."
How Jim sees his role in camp
Jim learns to "enjoy the war."
He appreciates the relative safety of thecamp, and doesn't want to venture into the unknown or known terrors he has
seen.
"free spirit"
Dr Ransome’s view of Jim
"few boys of his own age dared to touch" him and "few men."
Jim learns to defend himself in order to survive the privations of the camp
"parts of his mind and body frequently separated themselves from each other."
Jim knows he is stealing food from others and feels guilty, but he also knows it’s the only way to survive.
‘Jim longed for the next air raid, dreaming of the violet light, barely able to breathe for the hunger that Dr Ransome
had recognised but could never feed.’
Jim is standing with the other prisoners at the role call ordered by Sergeant Nagata after the American air-raid. They
have been standing for a long time and Mrs Phillips tells Jim to practise his Latin – the task set by Dr Ransome.
“…these nailed brogues that had a life of their own and propelled his scarecrow figure on his ceaseless rounds of the
camp.”
PERSONIFICATION and METAPHOR- illustrates how ill and malnourished Jim is. Also illustrates what Jim does to
survive, and how rootless he is.
“Trying to match her, he said: ‘A reward? Mrs Vincent, remember you’re British.’”
Shows Jim’s maturity, his ability to find humour in the situation, despite the privations they have endured. Does it
also suggest he sees how ludicrous the ‘stiff upper lip’ approach is?
"we need you tolead the way."
Mr Maxted to Jim as they walk from Lunghua to the Olympic Stadium
"he had been trying to keepthe 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 yearsof the war."
Jim after Mr Maxted dies
"having someone to care for was the same as being cared for by someone else."
Although Jim learns to acceptthe cruelty he sees around him and comes to understand the true horror of war, he also
learns this truth. This is important as it is a hopeful message.
"peace had come, but it failed to fit properly."
Jim back at Lunghua
"that Lieutenant Price would have liked toget him alone and then beat him to death, not because he was cruel, but
because only the sight of Jim's agonywould clear away all the pain that he himself had endured."
Jim understands the cruelty bred in of those who have been affected by war.
"unlike the war in China, everyone in Europe clearly knew which side he was on, aproblem that Jim had never really
solved."
Jim realises there are no clear victors or enemies in war
"for so long he had invested all his hopes in this young pilot, in that futile dream that they
would fly away together, leaving Lunghua, Shanghai, and the war forever behind them. He had needed thepilot to help
him survive the war, this imaginary twin he had invented, a replica of himself whom he watchedthrough the barbed
wire. If the Japanese was dead, part of himself had died. He had failed to grasp the truth that millions of Chinese had
known from birth, that they were all as good as dead anyway, and that it was self-deluding to believe otherwise."
The realities of war fill Jim with despair. He realises there will be no happy endings and that if the young pilot can
die, so will he. All his innocence has been destroyed.
"now seemed as much an illusion as the sets of the Shanghai film studios."
Jim will never return to his pre-war innocence.
"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."
End of novel. Jim’s childhood will remain in Shanghai. He will never escape the effects of the war.
Basie Quotes
"bland, unmarked face from which all the copious experiences of his life had been cleverly
erased."
Description of Basie, emphasising how he stays unaffected by the world around him.
“At home, if he did anything wrong, the consequences seemed to overlay everything for days. With Basie, they
vanished instantly.”
Could be used for Basie or Jim. We see that Jim understands his own life was bound by rules of behaviour and
accepting responsibility for the choices we make. Basie does not live like that – suggesting a disregard for the ‘rights
and wrongs’ dictated by society.
"a parasite" feeding "on the succulent terrain of the prison camps."
Jim has ambivalent feelings about Basie
“Jim waited until Basie looked up, but the cabin steward seemed hardly to recognize him. His attention had turned to
the two boys, and he had moved deftly into the vacuum in their lives.”
Good for illustrating Basie AND for the relationship between Basie and Jim. Shows Jim is looking for Basie to
acknowledge him but also that Basie has now cast Jim aside in favour of a more profitable relationship.
"a complete general store"
Basie’s possessions at the camp
‘The cabin steward, for all his guile, was the same limited man whom Jim had first met at the Nantao shipyards, with
the same clear but small view of the world.’
Jim is looking around Basie’s cubicle at all the tennis rackets, shoes etc. he has accumulated.
“…he shook his head in an almost formal way, as if recognizing the fourteen-year-old but no longer interested in
him…He stepped aside to give the coolie more room to swing his stave.”
Despite their relationship in the camp, Basie is prepared to allow Jim to be killed.
His one strength was that he never allowed himself to dream, because he had never been able to take anything for
granted, whereas Dr Ransome had taken everything for granted.
Jim has asked Basie how he escaped but Basie is vague and seems to have forgotten. He lives only in the moment and
is never disappointed because he doesn’t expect anything.
‘He had learned nothing from the war because he expected nothing...people who expected nothing were dangerous.’
While being without dreams might seem like a protection against disappointment, it is actually damaging to everyone
because there is no incentive to protect anything or live by any moral code.
Setting Quotes
“Wars came early to Shanghai, overtaking each other like the tides that raced up the Yangtze and returned to this
gaudy city all the coffins cast adrift from the funeral piers of the Chinese Bund.”
Set the scene and foreshadows what will happen. Focus on death – coffins returning and SIMILE emphasises the
speed and frequency.
"Life in Shanghai was lived wholly within an intense present,"
How the Europeans react to the threat of war.
"regatta of corpses"on the waterfront, surrounded by paper flowers, wash back in with the tide.
Jim sees how the coffins are thrown into the water, only to return with the tide.
"all over the western suburbs people were wearing fancy dress, as if Shanghai had become a city of clowns."
Western people do not seem to recognise the significance of what is happening?
"silk dresses" and "gray suits, strolling through the debris arranged for them" and stepping over "the bodies of dead
Chinese soldiers."
The Europeans visit the battlefields to see the Chinese dead
"bones of the unburied dead rose to the surface of thepaddy-fields" … "bloody heads of Communist soldiers mounted
on spikes along the Bund."
What Jim sees as they drive around Shanghai
“There was something sinister about a drained swimming-pool, and he tried to imagine what purpose it could have if it
were not filled with water.”
The empty swimming pool symbolises the end of the superiority of the International community. A swimming-pool is
used for fun and leisure; it is an unnecessary luxury and frivolous. It suggests that their lives were frivolous. Jim
links the empty swimming pool with sinister purposes.
‘Here and there an arm or foot protruded from the graves, the limbs of restless sleepers struggling beneath their brown
quilts.’
The graves of the prisoners are not deep enough to cover them and the rats are eating the bodies
‘The decaying air streamed down the plywood walls, bathing the flies that fed on the bodies piled across the
bunks...dozens of Lunghua prisoners lay on the bunks like sides of meat in a condemned slaughterhouse.’
The Lunghua dead
Even the dead were glamorized, the living’s idea of the dead…
The image in Life magazine
‘The kilns and chimneys glowed in the sunset as if the ancient ovens had been lit again, to be fuelled by the bodies of
the villagers lying in their vegetable gardens.’
The shells are falling again, this time as the Americans, helped by the Chinese Communists, retake the area. The war
machine doesn’t care who it kills.
“As they stepped from their landing craft the Chinese surged forward, gangs of pickpockets and pedicab drivers,
prostitutes and bar-touts, vendors hawking bottles of home-brew Johnny Walker, gold dealers and opium traders, the
evening citizenry of Shanghai in all its black silk, fox fur and flash.”
Shows no-one has learned from what has happened – it has all just fallen back into place.
“the unreal house in Amherst Avenue, which had once been his home but now seemed as much an illusion as the sets
of the Shanghai film studios.”
Setting or Jim – shows the effect of war on Jim, but also on the whole community – they cannot return to the way they
were.
Themes in ‘Empire of the Sun’
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 occurswhen
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 realises
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. Heconsiders the prisoners to be almost an extended family,
and thus comes to feel a measure of safety while he isinterned 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 toeat 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 somuch cruelty,
Jim comes to understand its causes. For example, "Jim knew that Lieutenant Price would haveliked to get him alone
and then beat him to death, not because he was cruel, but because only the sight of Jim'sagony 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 themselvesfrom 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 hadconsidered 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’
Answer the following questions. The questions in italics will help you clarify your ideas.
Partygoer procession
Jamie and his parents are chauffeured through the crowded streets of Shanghai to an exclusive, all-white costume
party being held by a British family.
Question 1: Why do such stratifications happen in society? How do such imperialist relations develop?
Compare and contrast the behaviour of the Chinese servants at the house with the pedestrians in Shanghai.
Why is Jamie’s family so comfortable in their own home but uncomfortable during the car ride?
What does this scene suggest about the British Empire’s relationship with China?
Children and war
Jamie runs away from the party to go the airfield. He fantasizes about being an air force pilot then stumbles upon a
brigade of real Chinese soldiers.
Question 2: How do children perceive war? How do their perceptions differ from the real thing? Is it reasonable to
allow children these fantasies?
Compare and contrast the “war” in Jamie’s imagination and the “war” he discovers immediately after. How do his
attitudes towards each differ?
Do you think Jamie was truly in danger? Do you think he was afraid?
English Boy Surrenders
Out of food at home, Jamie heads into the city and tries to “surrender” to the Japanese army, andisunsuccessful.
Question 3: Who constitutes the “enemy” in a war? In wartime, what is the difference between a nation (in the
abstract sense) and the citizens of that nation?
Why does Jamie believe that he will find help in Shanghai?
How does he react / do his actions change when he realises that nobody cares?
Survival
Basie teaches Jim the tricks to getting more food and drinking boiled water; Jim succeeds in fighting his way to
become a person chosen to get on the truck.
Question 5: How does living in prison change a person? Can a moral code be followed even in such extreme
conditions?
Do you think that Basie’s approach to life in the camp is ethical? Do you think that Jim should take his advice?
Do you think that Basie is really Jim’s friend, or is he using the boy for his own needs?
Revenge and adaptation
The Japanese try to smash the hospital windows as retribution for allied bombings; Jamie saves the doctor’s life while
he is being beaten for defending the hospital.
Question 6: What is the best method of survival for a prisoner of war?
Who do you think is more honourable in their actions, the doctor or Jim? Who do you think does the right thing? Can
you be honourable and do the right thing in this internment camp?
Identifying with the Enemy
Jim watches the fighters practice a ritual ceremony with admiration, and salutes them. The other internment camp
residents react with disbelief.
Question 7: How do we develop our sense of national identity? Does sympathizing with the enemy equal treason?
Do you think Jamie understands that these are kamikaze pilots? Would he still honour them if he knew they were
flying to their death? Or does he already know, and that is the very reason he salutes them?