Brahmani Velagapudi Week 9: The Poppy War

I recently read "The Poppy War" by R.F Kuang which is a fantasy book loosely based on the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Opium Wars. 

The book starts off with a girl named Runin (Rin) who takes a test that will determine whether she is able to go to this prestigious war college to become a soldier, then it follows her story as she faces the scrutiny of her teachers and students at the college for being poor and for having dark skin. She is bullied by the richer students whose families play influential roles in their society. Rin envies her classmates who were born into power and take advantage of it. 

Throughout the book, as she trains and joins the war you can see her craving for power grow until it practically consumes her and becomes all she can think about. Kuang portrays power in the book using shamanism and the ability to summon gods. 

Rin trains to summon the Phoenix God which Kuang depicts as the physical manifestation of power which Rin is desperately chasing after. 

R.F Kuang shows Rin's corruption arc by writing Rin's repulsion at the horrors committed by the enemy side in the war and by the end, Rin has done the same things but doesn't even realize the cruelty and hypocrisy of her actions and even manages to justify them because she allowed herself to be controlled by the Phoenix. 

I love how R.F. Kuang used the Phoenix God and Rin's desperation to be able to control it as a symbol of people's quest for power during war and the atrocities that are committed in the name of it. 

Although it is one of the most disturbing books I have ever read and I would definitely look up trigger warnings I will still recommend this book until the day I die.




 


  

Comments

  1. anishka jannuJanuary 24, 2024 at 5:14 PM

    Hi Brahmani. I found your post on “The Poppy War” to be very entertaining. It is interesting how the author blends the reality of our world with another world with mythical creatures. I have also read similar books and movies that show how being greedy for power can often lead to one’s downfall. I appreciate the author’s dedication to teaching the readers lessons about the dangers of craving power. I think it is more impactful to convey these ideas through characters in a book instead of verbally telling people. I also found it interesting how Rin strives to gain power but still ends up being controlled by the Phoenix God. I believe that Rin is probably still a good person, because her actions show that she is struggling to decide what is right and what is wrong. The author tries to show how people with good ethics can also be influenced by power, and why it is important to stay focused on being humble.

    I found this story to be intriguing because of the depiction of power as a Phoenix God. It is surprising that the author would embody power in a “god” and suggest that many people look up to power. However, the author soon demonstrates the negativity associated with this power as the story progresses. I think the multiple meanings of power are very impactful in the author’s narration of the story because it allows the reader to interpret the book in their own individual manner. This causes the author to achieve a very diverse range of perspectives in her book since different readers have different views of power. Overall, I think the book allows readers to understand what their beliefs on power are because of the struggle between the Phoenix God and Rin.

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  2. Daniela MarcelJanuary 24, 2024 at 5:20 PM

    Hi Brahmani, "The Poppy War" seems like such a good book. I love reading, and honestly the plot you just described to me it one of my favorite plots. When I was reading your blog I felt like I knew what was going to happen. I thought that Rin would soon overpower all those rich kids then be the all mighty king. However, the nice king, the people who treat lower people with respect because they also went through the same hardships. I thought Rin would turn into one of those people where they gave the less fortunate more opportunities to succeed. However, you said that Rin's greed for power eventually consumes her and gets into her head. Eventually she becomes "evil", they plot twist really hit me hard. I am definitely going to read this, thank you for writing about this book.

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