Re: Character Impression
Howard Cheung (hhcheung@uclink4.berkeley.edu)
Sat, 5 Aug 2000 20:33:22 -0700
Hi. I am not very active in the LoGH community. But since the topic seems
to be character impression, I can't help but to offer a bit of my own
insights.
I personally admire Yang Wenli because of his conviction and understanding
of a principle. Yang acknowledges the flaws of representative democracy as
a political system, especially in the choatic and decaying era he lives in.
Yet he has the foresight to realize that imperial monarchy is only as good
as the emporer himself. As Yang said to Julian in one of their
conversations, its too much to risk the livelihood of hundreds of billions
of people in the universe to the hands of one man.
Furthermore, I genuinely respect Yang's dedication as THE defender and
preserver of democracy. Even when the entire universe is controlled by the
Empire, Yang and his subordinates muster whatever forces remain from the
Alliance and turn Iserhon into the last bastion of democracy. Such courage
under overwhelming political, military, and physcological superiority from
the Empire is unprecedented in actual human history.
Ultimately, its Yang's own characters that enable him to become a true hero.
Despite numerous foibles, he presents himself as the paragon of professional
soldier in a democratic society. Whatever his personal opinions are, Yang
follows the orders from his military AND civilian superiors regardless to
how incompetent they are. Most important of all, Yang refuses to eliminate
internal oppositions and rectify the strategic advantages his nemsis Emporer
Riehard has by overthrowing the elected government. Instead of claiming the
moral high ground of revitalizing the corrupted society, Yang forsakes
expedience and ambition by defending the same political institution that is
set to destory both Yang and the Alliance itself. In the end, Yang Wenli is
brilliantly portoryed in LoGH as the champion of a unadulerated and abstract
ideal.
H. Cheung
