When we discussed the film, Snowpiercer, in which the train represented a moving city with a rigorous classification of people, I thought of a science fiction, Folding Beijing. In this book, the city keeps transforming. People from three classes live in three different spaces and the city folds every day to switch spaces. Similar to Snowpiercer, the three classes in the book receive disparate treatments and the lower classes always desire to get to First Space. However, different from Snowpiercer, people living in the city never think of fighting for equality. Lao Dao, the main character, breaks the rule of not entering other spaces just to earn money. After he completes his task, he returns to Third Space and his life becomes as usual as before. The tragedy of the two works is that it is hopeless for people under a dystopian background trying to fight for their rights.
Tian Xuemu(3035825057)
It is great that you applied the ideas from Abbott’s text to one of your own examples. Your comparison of Snowpiercer and Folding Beijing is well-detailed from the aspect of social hierarchy and transformative society under dystopic set-ups. Although the people from Folding Beijing didn’t fight for equality like Snowpiercer, they both seem to still share the element of rebellious resistance against authority, be it individual or collective. In your opinion, what is the underlying lesson behind the story of Folding Beijing? Does the story reflect real-life situations happening in the world?