Empire of the Sun Introduction

Essay Paragraph

The theme of ‘coming of age' is focused in Empire of the Sun. Before Jim is taken from his luxurious and glamorous life in shanghai and put in a detention camp he appreciates very little of what he has. Although in the detention camp, he is separated from him parents who do everything for him, he has to learn and find skills to be independent and matures into a young man who is able to keep himself alive in the detention camp. He faces death and illness in the detention camp and is made to mature and grow up before he should. He learns to realise how good his life was back in shanghai where he had his own chauffeur, food cooked and served to him whenever he pleased and a big and beautiful mansion to live in. When he is taken to the detention camp he is faced with the constant threat of death due to sickness and surviving through a world war as a young boy, by himself