War/Violence
Given the setting and the time of the narrative’s occurrence it is unsurprising that war and violence is the most prevalent image in the novel. War is described in all its ugly, manifold manifestations through the eyes of a young, wealthy boy. The choice of narrator also gives the account of the war a lack of patriotic sentiment. Jim describes the death and destruction brought about by bombings. He also narrates the violence inflicted by the Chinese, British, the Japanese military forces, as well as the peasant militia, and frightened folks just fighting to stay alive. He notes that each of them fight with the same amount of animal ferocity.
Isolation
Images of isolation run rampant in the book and it is written not just as the literal experience of being alone but also the experience of being treated indifferently or with great hostility. Jim is separated from his parents during the chaos and he spends a significant chunk of the novel searching for them. He finds that for the first time he is actually well and truly alone as he wanders the ruins of Shanghai. When he is placed in Lunghua Camp his fellow British POW treat him with great apathy, caring little for his welfare even when he becomes deathly ill. Jim’s age also keeps him isolated as his captors are at a loss as to what to do with him and how to treat him: he is too young to be treated as an aggressor in the war and he is also too young to work effectively.
POW camps
Jim spends a significant amount of time in the Lunghua POW Camp with several other prisoners from various walks of life and ethnicities. Again, it is also unsurprising that a significant portion of the novel’s narrative is focused upon describing daily life and the conditions within the camp. It is also worth noting that while prison camps are generally awful places associated with human degradation and abuse for Jim it becomes home because it has become his new “normal,” ultimately a more acceptable situation when compared to wandering the war-torn streets of Shanghai like a stray dog.
Desolation/Destruction
The bombs all but reduce the city of Shanghai to rubble and even Lunghua Camp, despite the discipline displayed by the soldiers that operate it, is in a generally miserable state. Everywhere Jim looks the indelible mark of war is seen and he takes a substantial amount of time describing how the city was both before and after the aggressions happen. The contrast between narratives of grand architecture and palatial mansions and the ruins and desolation is made all the more poignant as he has, at least for a little bit of time, lived like royalty and for what seems to be an eternity, lived exactly like vermin did.
Innocence
Jim is a young boy narrating events that he sees through eyes that are yet to be influenced by concepts like political inclinations, racial prejudice, or nationalistic sentiments. As such he makes rather matter-of-fact pronouncements and observations that are relatively unclouded by judgments that an older person might have possessed had they been the one narrating events. It is because of the unique choice to use a young boy as the storyteller that imbues the entire narrative with innocence and a lack of partiality.
