Literary Review of Into the Desert

The changing culture of the Desert in Western China is described in detail in Xuemo’s works. One of his novels, Into the Desert, focuses on two female characters, Ying’er and Lanlan, who are bartered into marriage because their families are poor. They come to believe that their hardships in life are due to their poverty and can be alleviated by running away to Salt Lake, a place in the northwestern region, will improve their lives. During this trip, they encounter, overcome and survive many perils. When they reach their destination and struggle to reach their goals, they come to realize that they are still ordinary mortal women who can be abused without mercy by others. They finally admit that against their wills, they and many other women are powerless and must submit to their predestinated fates. The broader implication of this story is that women live at the mercy of men as the ultimate victims. Into the Desert, describes this suffering and, in so doing, stresses that it needs to be alleviated, especially among the rural women now being trampled on repeatedly, by reforming the way of life is passed down from generation to generation.