The Novel Lili by Anna Wang - 1344 Words

Ralph Waldo Emerson once said â€Å"To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.† This is a strong belief Annie Wang incorporates into her novel, Lili. The main character, Lili, struggles to find what to do with herself amidst the communist oppression of China. Many of the experiences that Lili, along with other characters, face throughout the novel are directly related to Wang’s own life experiences. Three of the important values Wang shares with characters in her book are curiosity, independence and rebelliousness. Curiosity is a moving trait Wang bestows on the love interest of Lili in the novel, Roy Harper. Roy is a wealthy America journalist who travels to China, to†¦show more content†¦Growing up, Wang was also very independent from the people around her. During a personal email interview with Wang, she stated, â€Å"Yes, I think independent thinking is very important/courageous in a conformist society.† One important step Wang took in her life was to establish her own career path, instead of a traditional Chinese job, much like Lili. She wanted to pursue being an author, as well as study at an American University. Wang said of her parents, â€Å"They wished I had a ‘real’ job.† (â€Å"Beijing’s Badgirl† 2) While Wang lived in Beijing, she felt the need to independently support the movement in Tiananmen Square. She claimed â€Å"I went to Tiananmen for the freedom of press the freedom of everything† in an email interview. Ironically, it is Tiananmen itself that inspired her most independent work yet. Wang embarked on a journey to write a book on it, Lili, in English and all by herself. Incredibly, she accomplished this with little English experience beforehand, however, she was steadfast, saying â€Å"Sometimes I spent three days or a week just to search for a proper word [†¦]† (â€Å"Conversat ion† 1) and finished ten years later. It was independent acts like these that were stirred into action by yet another value shared between Wang and her novel’s main character. Social and political influences are the powerful forces that drive rebellion in Lili. Lili, who at a young age was a musical prodigy,