write critical appreciation of the story the chinese statue written by Jeffrey Archer.
Answers
In The Chinese Statue by Jeffrey Archer we have the theme of tradition, selfishness, pride, greed, sacrifice and appearance. Taken from his A Quiver Full of Arrows collection the story is narrated in the first person by an unnamed narrator and after reading the story the reader realises that Archer may be exploring the theme of tradition. Sir Heathcote on purchasing the stature and its base makes a point of ensuring that on his passing the statute and base should go directly to his first born male and subsequently their first born male. This is a tradition that is carried on till Alex receives the statue and for him it holds no value apart from the value he can get from selling it to pay off some of his gambling debts. It is also interesting that some critics might suggest that Alex is the least deserving of the Heathcotes to inherit the statue. He is a selfish young man who likes to live a life filled with gambling. Of all the Heathcote’s he makes no contribution to society and only thinks of himself. There is also no doubting that Sir Heathcote takes great pride in the statue as do those who come after him with the exception of Alex. It is though all four generations of men before Alex know of the beauty of the statue and are not necessarily concerned with the price that the statue might reach should it be auctioned.