Music Symbol in Do Not Say We Have Nothing

In Do Not Say We Have Nothing, music symbolizes the expression of individual identity through art in the midst of cultural oppression. Zhuli and Sparrow are both dedicated musicians—Sparrow is a composer, and Zhuli is a violinist. At the Shanghai Conservatory in the 1960s, most composers give their compositions political titles about revolution or resistance. Sparrow, however, gives his only numbers as titles, suggesting that for him, music is not a form of political expression but rather one of personal expression. During the Cultural Revolution, Zhuli is tortured extensively by the Red Guards, who also destroy her violin. One day, she thinks to herself that if they broke her hands and she could no longer play her instrument, her life would no longer be worth living, and so she commits suicide. In some ways, readers can view the breaking of Zhuli’s violin as the destruction of her identity and, because she is unwilling to live without music, which is an integral part of her individual identity, Zhuli decides to end her life. Zhuli dies because she does not want to live in a culturally repressive society that does not allow for individual expression. Through illustrating in particular Zhuli’s commitment to music, Thien highlights the importance of individual expression to living a meaningful life.

Music Quotes in Do Not Say We Have Nothing

The Do Not Say We Have Nothing quotes below all refer to the symbol of Music. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Individual Identity Under Communism Theme Icon

My father had once said that music was full of silences. He had left nothing for me, no letter, no message. Not a word.

Related Characters: Marie / Jiang Li-ling (speaker), Jiang Kai

Related Symbols: Music

Page Number and Citation: 15

Explanation and Analysis:

Remember what I say: music is the great love of the People. If we sing a beautiful song, the People will never abandon us. Without the musician, all life would be loneliness.

Related Characters: Big Mother Knife (speaker), Sparrow

Related Symbols: Music

Page Number and Citation: 30

Explanation and Analysis:

“I am ready now,” she thought, “to bring all these flowers for…I will find all the flowers, even if I must steal them from the hands of our Great Leader, I will lay them at Prokofiev’s feet.” She had given every bit of her soul to music.

Related Characters: Zhuli

Related Symbols: Music

Page Number and Citation: 254

Explanation and Analysis:

The official news program announced that Lao She, whose plays Wen the Dreamer had loved, and who had once been celebrated as “the People’s artist,” had drowned himself. To celebrate his death, joyful marching music danced from the speakers.

Related Symbols: Music

Page Number and Citation: 265

Explanation and Analysis:

“The music you used to write, Ba, was it criminal music?” He could only say, “I don’t know.” That same night, he wrote a new banner for the front door which read, May the Red Sun keep rising for ten thousand years, in calligraphy that was accomplished but empty, a fixed smile. He might as well have written Joy! on a plastic bucket.

Related Characters: Marie / Jiang Li-ling (speaker), Ai-ming, Sparrow

Related Symbols: Music

Page Number and Citation: 329

Explanation and Analysis:

Music Symbol Timeline in Do Not Say We Have Nothing

The timeline below shows where the symbol Music appears in Do Not Say We Have Nothing. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Political Oppression, Isolation, and Divided Communities Theme Icon

Storytelling, Family Connection, and History Theme Icon

...she recalls that in 2010, she was walking through Vancouver’s Chinatown when she passed a music store playing Bach’s Sonata for Piano and Violin No. 4. Though Li-ling’s pianist father had... (full context)

...and pieces leftover from his life. Every day, it seems, she finds more and more paper—musical scores, letters written but unsent, and many notebooks. Slowly, the collection of papers grows so... (full context)

Freedom of Expression vs. Propaganda Theme Icon

...when love songs streamed from the radios and wept down the streets.” At that time, “music sustained weddings, births, rituals, work, marching, boredom, confrontation and death; music and stories, even in... (full context)

...China death and destruction plague millions, Big Mother Knife drills into Sparrow the importance of music. In spite of all of the hardship, she trusts that as long as she and... (full context)

...But Sparrow, now 11, enjoys his father’s company, chiefly because Ba Lute tutors Sparrow in music theory as well as regular schoolwork. Soon, Big Mother Knife gives birth to two more... (full context)

...with Li-ling that when she was young, there were only a few pieces of “approved music” that played on the radio in China. These were the “revolutionary operas.” But, Ai-ming says,... (full context)

...made radios. Still, Ai-ming would always hear Sparrow humming, and she realized later that the music was what was left of her father’s own scores. Sometimes, Ai-ming would sing the songs... (full context)

...wedding in Bingpai, singers and booksellers come from Shanghai to gift the newlywed couple with musical instruments and books copied by hand. Swirl is to move to Bingpai and live in... (full context)

...in disarray. The radio is blaring. Ba Lute explains that “some of [their] interests—a few musical interests—do not need to be broadcast.” Indeed, when Big Mother Knife finds her son, Sparrow,... (full context)

...with Big Mother Knife. Late one night, everyone but Sparrow —who is up late transcribing music—is fast asleep when a young man comes to the door. The thin stranger asks after... (full context)

...Conservatory, where Sparrow teaches and Zhuli studies, the two cousins dedicate their mornings to their musical practice. On Sparrow’s way to his practice room, he passes the office of He Luting,... (full context)

...him for lunch. Sparrow isn’t ready to take a break—he’s working on writing his own musical composition and he is so enthralled with the task that he often composes for 18... (full context)

...Zhuli not to take any risks, and rather, that she should concentrate only on her music. (full context)

...returned determined to “show[] their newfound knowledge by continuously questioning their teachers, their parents and music itself.” The students have written posters, for instance, interrogating the political utility of music. They... (full context)

...whole-hearted participation in the revolution. The girl sitting next to Zhuli mocks her for “favoring music in the ‘negative’ and ‘pessimistic’ key of E-flat minor, and continuing to play sonatas by... (full context)

...herself that although she and Kai are both talented, Sparrow is really the most gifted musician at the Conservatory. Sparrow’s music makes her remember that the present is all there is,... (full context)

Zhuli wonders if Sparrow has somehow encoded his music with secret messages, just as Wen the Dreamer has encoded his copy of The Book... (full context)

...Zhuli clambers down and she finds herself in a spacious library full of books and musical instruments. From that day on, she goes down into the special place every day, learning... (full context)

Zhuli and Kai have reached He Luting‘s office. From inside, Zhuli thinks she hears music—specifically, she hears Petite Suite by Debussy, which surprises her so much that she almost laughs.... (full context)

...without compromising his values. She thinks to herself that it is impossible to play revolutionary music with fear in one’s heart—“every note would be abject, weak, a lie.” Zhuli walks to... (full context)

...her, Zhuli reflects in silence now on the attacks. She thinks to herself that without music, if the Red Guards prevented her from being able to play and practice, she would... (full context)

...lay them at Prokofiev’s feet.” She remembers that she has dedicated her entire life to music—now, she thinks to herself, “the quiet would show her the way out. Silence would expand... (full context)

...mourns the fact that she and Kai will never be able to be the lifelong musical collaborators that she dreamed they might one day become. She is full of both love... (full context)

...of Zhuli’s ears has been damaged and she wonders to herself “what would persist” without music and words. She imagines that in her next lifetime, there will be more colors than... (full context)

...playwright once celebrated as “the People’s artist” has drowned himself. The loudspeakers play “joyful marching music” to celebrate his death. It is during this broadcast that the Red Guards arrive once... (full context)

...with contempt and disgust. In front of everyone, Kai announces that Zhuli cares more about music and her personal wishes than the Party, sharing that he “had tried to instruct her... (full context)

...leave.” She wonders what would become of her if the Red Guards took away her music or broke her hands. As soon as the record finishes playing, Zhuli removes a rope... (full context)

...Sparrow watches the conductor being beaten, he remembers something He Luting once said to him: “Music that is immediately understood will not outlast its generation.” As He Luting shouts to the... (full context)

...denounced Zhuli and Sparrow, and, most of all, tried to give up his love for music. Li-ling feels angry when she reads the criticisms, but she pities her father when she... (full context)

...able to rejoin the Conservatory, telling his former teacher that he wished to continue playing music, “Because music [is] nothing […] and yet it belongs[ed] to [him].” He said that despite... (full context)

...a new work by Madame Mao!” He corrects her, saying that the composer of the music is Beethoven and that he is from another country. Inside, Big Mother Knife, who has... (full context)

Playing music at Kai’s house, Sparrow reflects on his day at the orchestra. He remembers the woman... (full context)

Outside, Ai-ming sees Yiwen walk by in a pink dress listening to a portable music set. Ai-ming thinks that Yiwen is very “modern and deeply Western” for listening to music... (full context)

...washing dishes. Yiwen tells Ai-ming, whom she calls a “little country girl,” about Western rock music. She asks her to come to the square tomorrow, and Ai-ming agrees. In the middle... (full context)

...dream, which he told her when she was young: to go abroad, write his own music, and hear others play. According to Ai-ming, things are changing: the students’ actions in response... (full context)

...3,000 police. Ling arrives home and knocks on Ai-ming’s door: inside, she finds Sparrow writing music. He asks Ling what the students are asking for, and she responds that she thinks... (full context)

...roaming the streets, using a Walkman cassette player that Ai-ming gave him to listen to music as he wanders. One evening, he walks into Beijing University and he sees the place... (full context)

Sparrow is composing music in Ai-ming’s room when he hears on the radio that the students in Tiananmen Square... (full context)

At home, Sparrow occupies himself writing music. He has finished a draft of a new composition: he’s decided to call it The... (full context)

...nor Ai-ming are there. Sparrow drinks tea and turns on the radio, which isn’t playing music; rather, the radio simply replays the announcement of martial law. Hearing this, Sparrow “regret[s] all... (full context)

...Sparrow is more productive than he has been in weeks at the factory—he feels that music newly infuses everything he does. In the outside world, Hong Kong entrepreneurs have sent tents... (full context)

...the Old Cat. Li-ling imagines that Sparrow, Kai, and Zhuli are also present. Hearing the music dedicated to her father, Li-ling thinks, “Ai-ming […] you and I are still here.” (full context)

Do Not Say We Have Nothing

Madeleine Thien

Music Symbol Analysis

Music Quotes in Do Not Say We Have Nothing

Music Symbol Timeline in Do Not Say We Have Nothing

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Music Symbol Analysis

Music Quotes in Do Not Say We Have Nothing

Music Symbol Timeline in Do Not Say We Have Nothing

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