Although Cuiyuan expresses world-weary attitudes about the nature of men and women in her inner monologue, Zongzhen clearly spots a desire for a connection with another human being in her eyes. And Zongzhen thinks he is merely avoiding Dong Peizhi, but he is also unconsciously avoiding his wife. Dong Peizhi is his wife's nephew, and part of the disgust Zongzhen feels towards Peizhi is clearly tied to his unhappiness in his own marriage. That is why he blames his wife for Peizhi's persistence, just like he resents being forced to buy spinach buns by his wife -- even though he clearly likes them, as he eats them to pass the time, while he is stalled on the tram.
The spatially constructed flirtation between Zongzhen and Cuiyuan becomes real, partially because of the unconscious needs of the protagonists but also because of the enforced closeness of the train car. The arbitrary nature of their meeting is underlined by the extraordinary circumstances of their encounter: the train has stopped, and most of the passengers have filed out to wait. Zongzhen and Cuiyuan are left together, but they do not move closer until the new influx of passengers force them closer. This is a metaphor for the fact that exterior circumstances and chance force them together, not genuine feeling.
When the two contemplate entering into a relationship, the reasons for their dissatisfaction come into shaper focus. Cuiyuan's parents want their daughter to marry a wealthy husband. She wishes to rebel against their values by becoming involved with a married man who does not have much money. She resents being pressed to become an English teacher at a young age, and then is reproached...
She is unreasonably angry when Zongzhen refuses to take her as a mistress (after only knowing her for a few minutes), sarcastically calling him in her mind the one good man left in the world. Yet rather than write down her phone number, she only tells it to him aloud, believing that if he really 'loves her' he will remember it.
On the surface, it seems ridiculous to call what transpires between Cuiyuan and Zongzhen to be love, given that it is largely a creation of their imagination, an accidental chance meeting forced upon both of them because of a train delay and Zongzhen's desire to avoid his nephew, which creates the impression of flirting with Cuiyuan. Both individual's loneliness and accidental proximity, and their aching need for changes in their mundane lives give rise to their encounter. However, although their relationship might not be a love match, it does seem fostered in some deep anger at the limits of their existences.
The tram creates a kind of never-never land for all of its inhabitants, not just the lovers. Even when the tram stops at the sealed-off city, people are not agitated because the shabby car is better than their homes, we are told. The tram is place of terrifying spiritual emptiness, a void where even people without newspaper or companions desperately read business cards and street signs. People will do anything to avoid thinking about the true nature of their existence, even pretend to fall in love.
Works Cited
Chang, Eileen. "Sealed Off." Film in Focus. November 16, 2009.
http://ww1.filminfocus.com/essays/sealed-off-a-short-story-by-ei.php?page=1
