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One is conversant with the metaphorical manifestation of existence as a wheel or a river, but life as an odyssey becomes a stark reality, upon reading the novels, Sorrow of War and Camel Xiangzi. An odyssey can be defined as a journey that enables the readers to relive the adventures of the character’s life, ranging from love and relationships to fatal encounters making it a kaleidoscopic microcosm.

Physical suffering during an odyssey plays a vital role in showcasing circumstances as an antagonist.

Xiangzi believed everything could be perfect if he gave up all the pleasures of life. His innocence towards realistic life highlights the duality of Xiangzi’s ambitious world and reality. “This would bring him much, much closer to his goal” The rickshaw is a motif to drive Xiangzi’s journey of life, symbolizing the adversities of his life. The encounter with Tigress before his marriage demonstrates this characteristic; Tigress advances towards Xiangzi in the ‘sedan’, a symbolic depiction of a bad omen since she comes “without good wishes of friends or relatives.” a parallel to the circumstance that was coming towards Xiangzi in the form of this marriage, without any escort of optimism. Tigress was accompanied “by cymbals and drums” creating a cacophonic atmosphere, to accentuate the warning this impending danger was emitting. Circumstances prove its cruelty after the wedding when Xiangzi was dropping off a passenger and “a flash of lightning far away made a bloody gash in the clouds.” This imagery creates a concrete picture, “bloody gash” symbolizing the pain and suffering that is destined in his life, reinforced by the color red- a contrast to the dark clouds representing his own life. Nature heightens its brutality to weaken Xiangzi, “stronger gust blew the willow branches straight out.”; “willow” is synonymous to sturdiness; ironically we witness how circumstance had overpowered it, a parallel to Xiangzi. Thus we can say that, the circumstance fabricated by nature, reinforces it being an emblematic personification of an antagonist who infiltrates its malevolence into Xiangzi’s life, seen directly after this journey, Xiangzi was “dead to the world for two days and two nights.” The author uncovers a universal message, of the might the natural elements in the world possess.

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Likewise, in Sorrow of War, in the train journey, circumstances construct situations that inflict Kien and Phuong with life- scarring injuries.

“The war started, with a storm.” This phrase unquestionably represents the premonition of the coming disasters present in Sorrow of War, as the “storm” foreshadows the destruction it will cause in their lives penetrating from the macro to the micro level.

While on the train, it had “two raids. The first, shorter one was when the train was forced to stop.” This is a parallel to Kien’s life, the “train” signifying his life was forced to stop, and begin a new ...

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