By Yuchen XIE
Haunted by the trauma of World War II, people reflected on the fragility of life. Love, once associated with loyalty and sacredness, became ironically transient and absurd. Under this influence, Eileen Chang wrote her short story "Sealed Off," in which an air raid brings a wartime tram in Shanghai to a sudden stop, suspending the flow of ordinary time and space. This rupture creates a liminal space that sparks a fleeting romance between Lu Zongzhen and Wu Cuiyuan, freeing them to transcend everyday constraints momentarily. Yet their connection unfolds in tension between ephemeral desire and enduring social norms.
The liminal setting enables Chang to portray a romance that, while seemingly unrealistic, feels emotionally authentic, contrasting with the insincerity of everyday interactions. As Leo Lee in Shanghai Modernnotes, this contrast reflects Chang's distinctive "uneven, mismatched fashion." In the following parts, I will explore the theme of "liminal romance in a wartime tram" through three aspects: the tram's liminal condition, the fleeting authenticity of the romance, and the persistent power of social norms.
The wartime tram symbolizes a space of liminality, offering an alternative temporality where individuals can reveal their true selves. Drawing on Victor Turner's concept of "liminality" from the Ritual Process: Structure and Anti-structure, this "in-between" state allows people to break from social structures and express their agency. The alternative temporality in "Sealed Off" is explored by Leihua Weng in "Modernity in a Wartime Tramcar: Temporal Contestations and Individual Subjectivity in Eileen Chang's 'Sealed Off'," which serves as a narrative of lived experience and sensibility that disrupts the linear flow of time. Chang uses the symbol of "tram" to create this liminal temporality: "'Ding-ding-ding-ding' rang the bell. Each 'ding' was a small, cold dot: dot after dot, they formed a line that cut through space and time." The tram bell's rhythm introduces a fragmented and disoriented passage of time, allowing people to escape social constraints. Within this liminality, the tram becomes a realm of privacy and self-expression, where desires can emerge freely. Unburdened by social expectations, Lu Zongzhen experiences a brief period of freedom: "With everyone gone, he could comfortably munch his spinach-stuffed buns." This simple act of eating, echoing the Chinese saying "shise xingye" (food and sex are inherent to human nature), marks a moment of personal revelation and sets the stage for his romance. The liberation in the tram creates a condition for the encounter between Cuiyuan and Zongzhen, where they transcend their daily roles and temporarily embrace their genuine selves.
The liminal moment provides the characters with a fleeting release from their social identities, during which they engage in impulsive and emotionally authentic intimacy. This moment, as described by Leo Lee, transforms an "ordinary story into an extraordinary romance," which enables the expression of people's long-repressed desires. In Chang's portrayal, Cuiyuan's frustration with her social roles lays the groundwork for the romance: "There are more good people than real people... Cuiyuan wasn't very happy." The halted tram creates a space for Cuiyuan's unexpected conversation with Zongzhen, covering work, family, secrets, and sorrow, offering her a surprising sense of authenticity: "Not too honest, not too bright, but a real person! Suddenly, she felt flushed, happy." For Zongzhen, the tram serves as a space for him to reconnect with a part of himself. As Chang writes, "Zongzhen had never thought he could make a woman blush... In this, he was a man." Bound by roles as husband and bank employee, Zongzhen longs to express himself as a man who can inspire affection. After the flirtatious conversation, "They were in love." This abrupt shift from strangers to lovers, without ceremony or gradual buildup, highlights their deep longing for self-revelation and authentic connection. However, their brief encounter exists only in the liminal space and shatters with the return of reality.
Though authentic in the moment, Cuiyuan and Zongzhen's romantic encounter is fragile and cannot survive the return to societal norms. Zongzhen recalls his familial responsibilities, returning to the practicalities of life: "I can't get a divorce... I have to consider my children's happiness." Similarly, Cuiyuan retreats into bitter rationality: "She'd probably marry, but her husband could never be as dear as this stranger met by chance... It could never be this natural again." Her realization that romance is unrepeatable underscores the futility of seeking authenticity within the rigid confines of traditional marriage. As the tram resumes its motion, the liminal space collapses, the outside world intrudes, and the romance fades: "He had gone. To her, it was as if he were dead." The transient romance ends with the "death" of Zongzhen in Cuiyuan's world, as if the moment of passion were merely an illusion. Chang writes, "The whole of Shanghai had dozed off and dreamed an unreasonable dream." The extraordinary is beautiful but ephemeral, while the ordinary, though mundane, is what endures. Finally, the story leaves the impression that the characters are trapped in an awkward "in-between" state, neither fully shackled nor freed, reflecting a sense of loss and bewilderment triggered by war. This ambivalence lies at the heart of Chang's romantic narrative, where moments of authenticity are fleeting and ultimately unable to withstand the return of society's normalizing forces.
In conclusion, "Sealed Off" offers a poignant yet skeptical perspective on love and authenticity. Through the symbolic setting of the halted tram, Eileen Chang stages a "liminal romance" in which repressed desires briefly surface, allowing Cuiyuan and Zongzhen to connect beyond the constraints of their prescribed social roles. However, this intimacy cannot last long. Once the tram resumes motion, everyday responsibilities reassert themselves, and the emotional authenticity in the liminal space begins to dissolve. The characters' moment of romance and their swift disillusionment reveal a deep tension between human desire and social obligation. This also serves as a paradigmatic representation of wartime psychological trauma, distinguished by instability, unreliability, and the illusory nature of reality. History moves forward relentlessly, yet individuals often face dilemmas that counter this linear progression. While Chang does not offer a clear solution, her spotlight on these fleeting moments calls for more reflection and compassion about lived experiences.
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