It is IMPOSSIBLE to be a good person and survive in a capitalist system (based on private property, business, and competition). Evidence of this is found on pages 1-36 (which are all the farther I have read so far, making this a bit difficult). While Shen Teh may be a good person, it does not look like she is going to survive if she keeps letting everyone exploit her. Similarly, it seems like Wang, the water-seller, may be a good person, but financially he probably won’t survive. He says on page 3 that “utter poverty is the rule in our province,” and “when [the water] is plentiful I earn nothing.”
There is lots of evidence that Shen Teh is a good person. We can see that she is good early on in the book as she provides the three gods with shelter for the night when no one else in the town would do it. She lets everyone sleep in her shop and she gives them free tobacco. She agrees to pay the carpenter a ridiculous amount of money because she feels bad for him and his family. She is kind to people who are mean to her; Mrs. Shin threw her out when she couldn’t afford the rent, but Shen Teh still gives her rice every morning for free.
There is also evidence that her goodness will make it impossible to survive in the capitalist society in which she lives. Her goodness is taken advantage of by pretty much everyone except her cousin, and will most likely be her downfall, making it impossible to survive. The Woman is right when she says, “[Shen Teh] can’t say no. You’re too good, Shen Teh. If you want to hang on to your shop, you’d better be able to refuse sometimes.”
Sunday, October 11, 2009
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I agree with you in saying that it is very hard for people to survive in a capitalist society because of the evidence given in Shen Teh's case. Yes she is a very good person and very giving of herself but you can only give so much before getting taken advantage of. People who dont work and dont make their own money are going to go to those who do and give pity stories about why they are poor and cant afford housing. If you run across people like Shen Teh you know that you will be taken care of for a time because those kinds of people feel for others and know what its like to be in that situation. She wants to use the golden rule in her life but these other people dont see that as important. They never once feel like they have to repay her for what she has given them and you can tell that Shen Teh is getting fed up with it when you disguises herself as her cousin. She doesnt know of any way else to tell those people that she cant take it anymroe and that they need to start providing for themselves. So I agree with you and the points you make that it is hard to survive and be a good person in a capitalist society.
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