Ching, Ching, Chinaman
Williams’s study analyzes the construction of “Ching, Ching, Chinaman” as a retrospectively told short story filtered through a thirteen-year-old boy’s limited understanding. It maps the plot from the initial marriage and blackmail through delayed revelations, final suspense, confession, poison, and the closing “China way” departure, stressing how withheld chronology and accelerating tempo produce suspense. The section also directs readers to assess the theme’s irony about mission work, the competing wills and moral positions of Malden, Mate Snow, and Yen Sin, and the consistency of the boy narrator’s viewpoint. It examines scene selection, unity of setting, clues and foreshadowing, visual description, shadows, irony, and Steele’s suggestive handling of partially seen action.
By Blanche Colton Williams · First published 1919 · Genre: Literary Analysis, Literary Criticism, Literary Essay · 1,990 words
First lines
PRESENTATION. The story is told in reminiscent vein by one who uses his own angle as a boy. It recalls the manner of "Treasure Island," as "The Yellow Cat" recalls Kipling. The boy's angle is faithfully kept, with excellent results. The first value of the boy's angle is that much of the action was unclear to him, as it progressed chronologically, and this obscurity is carried over to the reader. The reader, then, is kept in suspense, as the boy was, until the outcome. It is a well-known and capital means of creating and heightening suspense. The second value is that the boy's point of view is the best for unity of effect. Observe that this is true in studying the
PLOT.
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Genres
- Literary Analysis — The section closely examines plot stages, viewpoint, characterization, setting, imagery, and narrative effects.
- Literary Criticism — Williams evaluates technique and prompts judgments about motivation, unity, credibility, irony, and thematic meaning.
- Literary Essay — It presents an organized instructional reading of a single short story through focused critical sections.
- Non-Fiction — The work is explanatory criticism and study guidance rather than the fiction being discussed.
Tags
Blanche Colton Williams · Ching, Ching, Chinaman · Steele · short-story construction · boy narrator · restricted viewpoint · suspense · chronological withholding · plot climax · characterization · mission-work irony · Yen Sin
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Ching, Ching, Chinaman is listed on Textopian as an essay by Blanche Colton Williams, dated 1919 CE.
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- Work type: Essay
- Author: Blanche Colton Williams
- Date: 1919 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Literary Analysis, Literary Criticism, Literary Essay, Non-Fiction
- Length: 1,990 words
- Structure: 1 section, 40 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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