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Crickets, which can be captured and made to fight each other in contests, represent perseverance and fighting spirit. Li Cunxin and his brothers, especially Cunfar, spend their childhood summers capturing and organizing battles between crickets. The Wuho Man tells a story about a little boy named Brave Hero who sends his own fighting spirit into a sickly cricket (also named Brave Hero), winning praise and riches for his family. Cunxin’s own path from poverty to success and acclaim follows the trajectory of this story. Like Brave Hero, he braves leaving his home and family behind to travel far away. Like Brave Hero, he draws on deep inner reserves of perseverance to rise through the ranks of his class at the Beijing Dance Academy and win the opportunity to travel to America. And, like Brave Hero, his success reflects well on his family, bringing them honor and respect in their community—and allowing Cunxin to improve their standard of living through the money he earns as an international ballet star.
Get the entire Mao’s Last Dancer LitChart as a printable PDF.
Cricket Symbol Timeline in Mao’s Last Dancer
The timeline below shows where the symbol Cricket appears in Mao’s Last Dancer. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4: The Seven of Us
...nights, adults like the Wuho Man entertain the children with stories. Cunxin’s favorite concerns a cricket. After an ancient emperor demands crickets from the whole empire, a boy named Brave Hero...
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Chapter 11: The Pen
...first afternoon, Cunfar retrieves a glass jar from the shed. He’s saved his prized fighting cricket from the summer, named King, to show Cunxin. But when Cunxin shakes the jar, they...
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Chapter 12: My Own Voice
...to remember anyway. He compares Cuncia in Tibet and Cunxin in Beijing to lucky, winning crickets. He himself feels like a sickly loser in comparison. He says he doesn’t know how...
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Chapter 29: Back in My Village
...the village. He and Cunxin exchange many stories during the visit, especially about their champion crickets.
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