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.

    ReplyDelete
  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.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Daniela Marcel Week 10: The Power That Friends Hold

Image
          Recently I have noticed the amount of power my best friend holds. One day while my best friend and I were walking home, she was telling me about this one person. She told me her thoughts and opinions on that friend and I didn't think much of it when I got home. The next day I subconsciously started to distance myself from that certain friend. Whenever that friend started to become close with my best friend, I got in the way or I just didn't like the fact they were close (physically). When I realized this, I became curious about why I was starting to avoid the person. I was pretty close with the person, but I have only known them starting this year, while I have known my best friend for more than 3 years. Why was I acting like this? Was it the unwavering trust I placed in my best friend's judgment? Was it because, since I have known her for so long I unconsciously follow her? Does her influence have that much power over me to change ...
Read more

Daniela Marcel Week 9: What Super Powers Do Humans Have?

Image
       When I first read the topic for this week's blog, my first thought was superpowers. When you first hear the word "power", you think of superpowers, you think of the impossible, you think of characters like Spiderman or Superman. You think of the ability to run fast, become invisible or invincible, to be able to read minds and to do the unthinkable. Now that I think about superpowers, I wonder, how come humans don't have any superpowers like that? Or do we?     Everyone knows the common term, mom power. Whenever you lose something, you go to your mom and complain to her "Mom, I can't find my ___". Then she says "Just open your eyes, if I go into your room and find it-" "You won't, I have looked for hours and everywhere". Once she steps into your room she instantly spots it. Everyone has had this situation happen to them before, and I have always wondered how in the world does my mom do it? Same with cooking, the fridge could...
Read more

Patrick Chou Week #9 Power of English

Image
     English is often referred to as the most used language with "a ll 100 of the world’s most influential science journals publish in English" according to an article written from Amy Chua from the New York Times . But what led to this rise of influence  and use of English globe wide ?      During the era of European colonialism, British colonization spread the language to various parts of the world. For example, India once colonized by Britain, many people worked with the British  in civil sources which rose the dependence on English during   day-to-day  life, and  by the time India became independent, English  was seen as a viable language.      English has become a language of academic standard  and international communication in  research and education. For example, much of the human body anatomy stems from Latin  and derived into English , Moreover, programing languages are done in English in...
Read more