Allegorical Connotations in Salt Fish Girl and The

Allegorical Connotations in Salt Fish Girl and The Blind Assassin

Outline I. The Hierarchy A. the classes in Sakiel-Norn in BA 1. Snilfard 2. Ygnirods B. the different compounds in SFG 1. Serendipity 2. Unregulated Zone 3. Painted Horse II. The Exploitation of Capitalism A. The Tapestry in BA 1. the child labor B. The Pallas Shoes in SFG 1. Ads by Miranda C. The Business Suit in SFG 1. Miranda’s father as a tax collector III. The Oppression of Women A. The Dedicated Girl in BA B. The Peach Women in BA C. The Clones in SFG 1. Sonias and Miyakos IV. Conclusion

Allegorical Connotations: The Hierarchy The Classes in Sakiel-Norn in BA (15 -16) • on the planet Zycron- the destructed city: Sakiel-Norn (The Pearl of Destiny) • The aristocrats: Snilfards • “skilled metalworkers and inventors of ingenious mechanical devices” • Male Snilfards wore masks; female Snilfards veiled: “since imperviousness and subterfuge were reserved for the nobility”

Allegorical Connotations: The Hierarchy The classes in Sakiel-Norn in BA (16 -17) • Ygnirods: smallholders, serfs, and slaves • One breast bare for the women- “fair game for the Snilfard men” • They are resentful of their lot, but concealed this with a pretense of stupidity • Slaves, “who could be bought and traded and also killed at will” • The demoting: Snilfard---> Ygnirod

Allegorical Connotations: The Hierarchy The classes in Sakiel-Norn in BA (17) • “I suppose this is your Bolshevism coming out, she says. ” • Communism against Capitalism • Marxism: superstructure, ideology • “The citizens continued to perform the ancient rituals because they had always done so, but such things were not the real business of the city. ”

Allegorical Connotations: The Hierarchy The different compounds in SFG • Unregulated Zone : “the air grew thick with the smell of old petrol, sulphur, urine and rotten food” (37) • “A few U. S. and Canadian dollars still circulated” ; “where none of them were, strictly speaking, legal” (81 -82) • Dr. Flower’s lab in “once downtown Vancouver” (111) • “Workers flooded out of the corporate compounds and into the Unregulated Zone. ” (84 -85)

Allegorical Connotations: The Hierarchy The different compounds in SFG • Serendipity, a Saturna compound • “the Bank, ” “the Game of tax, ” “banal accounting softwares, ” “narrative mechanisms of the Game” (95) • “The Walled City” (189) • Painted Horse, a Nextcorp town • “the Painted Horse Democratic Urban Village located off Highway 10 in the former municipality of Greenwood, British Columbia” (71)

Allegorical Connotations: The Exploitation of Capitalism The Tapestry in BA (21 -23) • Sakiel-Norn: “once it was a flourishing centre of trade and exchange” • “slaves were how Sakiel-Norn had achieved its magnificence and power” • • “slave children, ” the child labor (22) Carpet Brothel Blind Assassins: terrorists

Allegorical Connotations: The Exploitation of Capitalism The Pallas Shoes in SFG • “a shoe company called Pallas” “everyone that can afford them owns a pair of Pallas shoes” (157) • “why do you think their labour costs so low? ” • The workers in the factories (160) • The price list, labour: 3 units; profit: 156 units (238) • Ads by Miranda (242 -44) • “suppose Pallas were to advertise shoes as protection against the dreaming disease. Memory-proof soles” • Perfume Ads

Allegorical Connotations: The Exploitation of Capitalism The Business Suit in SFG • Miranda’s father as a tax collector • “He looked like an executioner” (26); “a much younger, stronger, more heroic version of him” (27) • “The Business Suit made tax collecting into a marvellous adventure… I’d like to be a tax collector too. ” • The policemen (28) • Real World (60) • Miranda wore the Business Suit (79 -80)

Allegorical Connotations: The Oppression of Women The Dedicated Girl in BA • “The dedicated girls were shut up inside the temple compound, fed the best of everything” (28) • “tongueless, ” “pampered society bride” (29) • Iris and Laura The Peach Women in BA • Planet of Aa’A (353) • “Their skin was a succulent golden pink” • “there was nothing these babes wouldn’t do” (354)

Allegorical Connotations: The Oppression of Women The Clones in SFG • Sonias (carp genes) • Miyakos (cat genes) • “Sent them all to the factories to work for Pallas” (252) • “Painted Horse and Saturna manufacture only women” (258)

Allegorical Connotations: Conclusion SFG • Rebellious Women • “a secret house where other escapees are living together and planning to sabotage Pallas” (159) • “clever Sonias”; “That they were building a free society of their own kind from the ground up. ” (256) BA • Obedient Women • Writing