Author Background

2. Author Background • Born Nov 15, 1930 in Shanghai • Spent war at Lunghua prison camp, having been reunited with parents after wandering Shanghai alone. • Met other children in the camp who were alone, having been separated from parents. • Left China at 16 and studied Medicine at Cambridge University. • Served as a pilot in the Royal Air Force. • Began writing Science Fiction in mid 1950s. • Wife died 1964 and a death became a recurring theme in his writing. • Published Empire of the Sun in 1984 – It won the Guardian Fiction Prize (1984), was nominated for the Booker Prize (1984) and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1985. • Empire of the Sun was adapted into a movie in 1987 – produced and directed by Steven Spielberg. • JG Ballard died in 2009.

3. Historical Context WWII - Britain WWII - Shanghai In August 1937 the Japanese attacked Shanghai, which fell under Japanese control by November. The foreign zones (international settlements) remained under control of the foreign nationals at this time. By 1940, Japan controlled a large part of China, including Northern China and the Yangtze valley The foreign zones were occupied by the Japanese after December 7th 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour. Japan formally surrendered on August 15th 1945 – with hostilities formally ceasing in 1952 • During the 1930s, totalitarian regimes arose in Germany, Italy and Japan. They became known as the Axis powers and began to forcibly expand into neighbouring territories. • 1939 Britain and France declared war on Germany after a U-boat sank the British ship Atheniaoff the coast of Ireland. All members of the British Commonwealth (except Ireland) soon joined Britain and France. • Dunkirk. In 1940, Britain retreated from France and France fell to German invasion. The Battle of Britain began, with Britain being bombarded from the air as Germany attempted to gain ascendancy in the skies. • Britain was being supplied by America but the crossings were treacherous as many ships fell victim to German submarines. • In December 1941, after Pearl Harbour, America joined the war. • By 8th May 1945 all German forces had surrendered – end of state of war was not declared until 1950.

4. Strength and Weakness Jim’s ability to cope with his harsh surroundings reveals his strength of character and the nature of human adaptability. Others escape into death but Jim is determined to survive and adapts, eating insects and ingratiating himself with his captors. Change and Transformation As Jim matures he undergoes the biggest change as he is wrenched from his comfortable and privileged Shanghai life and forced to live, as the Chinese do, with deprivation and constant threat of death. This leads Jim to self-discovery as he realises his ingenuity, courage and resilience Coming of Age Jim matures from child to man through the course of the novel. After being separated from his family he must learn to cope alone and survive the brutal conditions he endures in the camps. As a result he learns important lessons about himself and about human nature. Alienation and Loneliness Jim must learn to deal with these feeling as he is left to survive alone. He uses his imagination to fill his days, imagining he is a Japanese fighter pilot. This helps him combat his loneliness. Violence and Cruelty Jim is able to recognise the capacity for cruelty in others as well as himself. Seeing so much of it helps him to understand why is happens. He sees the thoughtless cruelty towards the beggars and the Chinese and recognises Lieutenant Price’s violent feelings towards him. He also struggles with his own as he obtains extra food in order to survive. (see important quotes) Appearance and Reality Linked to coming of age and change and transformation. By the end of the war Jim has let go of innocent ideas regarding the nature of war. As a child he thought of war as an ‘heroic adventure’ but by the end he recognises the devastating reality. THEMES A theme is a broad idea, message, or moral of a story. The message may be about life, society, or human nature. Themes often explore timeless and universal ideas and are almost always implied rather than stated explicitly. Along with plot, character, setting, and style, theme is considered one of the fundamental components of fiction. Obstfeld, 2002, p. 1, 65, 115, 171

5. Style – the manner in which the author tells the story Tone The novel is a realist novel and has a matter of fact tone as a result of the relatively uncomplicated, uncluttered vocabulary and straightforward sentence structures and vivid descriptions. This serves to reinforce the horror as many of the scenes being described are often disturbing and bizarre. Jim’s position as detached observer reporting what he sees reinforces this. Symbol Ballard uses abandoned buildings and drained swimming pools as symbols of Jim’s predicament and psychological state. As he searches for his parents, he comes across many abandoned homes and pools, symbols of the privileged lives led by the Europeans. This emptiness foreshadows life in the camps, where social hierarchies are reversed and eventually collapse. Point of View The novel is told in THIRD PERSON NARRATION through the eyes of JIM, our MAIN PROTAGONIST, as he experiences the horror of life in China during WWII. This provides both a vivid picture of the destruction that surrounds Jim, but also shows how he is a detached observer – a survival skill he develops as a coping mechanism in the camps, but is evident in the early scenes.

6. Main Characters Basie Jim • 11 year old schoolboy – English, but brought up in Shanghai so more familiar with this. • We see events from his point of view. • Separated from parents during Japanese invasion – lost and alone in Shanghai. • Ends up in Japanese Internment Camp where he survives by performing errands and refusing to give in. • Naïve, detached and self-absorbed at the start of the novel, he shows strength of character, courage and self-awareness throughout the novel. • He learns that war is not an heroic endeavour, but rather is full of horror and cruelty. However, he also learns the importance of looking after each other, that "having someone to care for was the same as being cared for by someone else." • American sailor who Jim meets before they are sent to the internment camp. • Jim describes Basie as looking unmarked by life. (see important quotes) • Basie looks to profit from the war and makes money however and wherever he can. • Although Basie can be generous to Jim, he was also prepared to see Jim die. • Basie’s ability to trade means he end up with a ‘complete General Store’ in the camp. • Basie only looks to the immediate , short-term benefits or consequences of any situation. • In contrast to Jim, Basie remains ‘barely touched’ by the war, and this seems to be how he survives.