On a Chinese Screen · Theme
Search for Meaning and Identity
How On a Chinese Screen develops Search for Meaning and Identity.
Individuals like the Englishwoman married to a Chinese man, the vice-consul, and the sinologue grapple with displacement and the search for purpose, often finding only emptiness or a retreat into narrow specializations, as seen in the scholar who lives entirely through books.
Where it surfaces
- IV: The Rolling Stone
The protagonist's restless wandering and collection of experiences suggest a search for meaning, yet the narrator concludes that his adventures never translated into soul-deep experiences, leaving him with an insignificant identity.
- VII: The Altar of Heaven
Untermeyer's desire to be remembered reflects a search for personal significance, but his crude method and its swift erasure suggest the emptiness of such efforts.
- VIII: The Servants of God
Both missionaries have dedicated their lives to a higher calling, yet their identities are shaped by their pasts—the Englishman's soldiering and the Frenchman's asceticism—revealing a search for purpose.
- XXIV: Romance
The narrator's quest to understand and capture the essence of romance mirrors a deeper search for meaning and identity in his experiences.
- XXV: The Grand Style
The doctor's plans to retire and visit the West Indies, his reflections on England and Ireland, and his embodiment of a bygone 'grand style' suggest a search for meaning and identity in a changing world, clinging to the values and manners of his youth.
- XXXI: The Stripling
The stripling's journey to the city to seek his fortune embodies a youthful quest for purpose and self-definition.
- A Game of Billiards
The stranger's abrupt question about fate hints at a deeper search for meaning or purpose, contrasting with the mundane setting of a billiard game.
- Nightfall
The traveler's recollection of vanished youth, high hopes, and lost love underscores a quest for personal significance amid the passage of time.
- XLIV: The Normal Man
The narrator's quest to find a 'normal man' and Webb's own struggle with his identity as a father and husband separated from his family underscore the search for meaning in a fragmented life.
- The Old Timer
In his old age, he reflects on his past and finds meaning in the river and his memories, asserting a sense of fulfillment despite external failures.
- XLVI: The Plain
The narrator's sudden vision of the Rhine plain triggers a deep personal reflection on his youth and the formation of his identity through beauty, knowledge, and conversation.
- L: Metempsychosis
The concept of metempsychosis and the old man's expiation through a mundane task reflect a search for meaning and the consequences of past actions.
- LIII: The Sea-Dog
Boots' restless career and indecision reflect a search for purpose, as he moves from sea to land and back, never fully settling.
- LV: The Sinologue
The sinologue's dedication to his dictionary and Chinese poetry reflects a search for meaning through scholarship, yet the narrator questions if he has missed the essence of life.
