Post 4

In this week's reading (100-150), the particular spot that caught my eye was the Wu River section, which took place on pages 125-130.  The experience that Hessler has with the Wu River is not only representational of the surrounding culture, but is also very symbolic as well.  The way that Hessler describes the river using the example of the old fisherman give the river a personified characteristic.  When he juxtaposes these two ideas, something in nature and something of the human world, it is showing me a simple idea of what a river can do for a culture or and environment in a totally different way.  The effect that I see that this comparison has, is that it makes the river seem just like the old man; it will only bear fish if it is lucky, it's prime years are long gone, it is more tired and weak than it ever was, etc.  I've obviously seen other examples of personification, and I probably have seen examples in similar fashions as this one, but this is the first time that I can recall seeing something true and real about a culture through the use of and indirect personification, and an elaborate symbolic comparison of something in the human world and the natural world.