Shanghai as the modern city of the East in Tom Bradby's "The Master of Rain"

Shanghai as the modern city of the east in tom bradby's novel the master of rain
Tom Bradby's novel The Master of Rain is an immensely atmospheric, gripping detective story with just the right mixture of exoticism, violence and romance. The atmospheric menace of twenties Shanghai are brought to vivid life. It was exotic, sexually liberated and pulsing with life. It was a place and time of modernity where anything seems possible by money. For the major character, Richard Field, it represents a brave new world; away from the past he is trying to escape. So, how this novel grips the theme of modernism in terms of money, lust and media which brood Shanghai as the modern city of the East is the researchable issue.
In the book of Modernist Studies by Routeledge, it is justified that,"The city is the location where more visible signs of modernity were to be found in the highest concentration; for example electric light, motorized transport, boulevards, telephone wired and departmental stores" (181). In Bradby's novel such features are frequently presented. The story starts from the central investigation department of British government during the time of post British rule in Shanghai. Shanghai was actually known as little Russia during that period. After Bolshevik revolution (1917) in Russia, many Russian aristocrats, army generals and government officials migrated in Shanghai in 1920s. Thus Russian deserted aristocratic people incepted new Shanghai life that boomed as the central attraction of the modernity even for the West also.
This novel describes a paradigm shift from old conventions and cultures to modern society thematically as well as technically also. It describes how the mafia culture dominated the world of modern Shanghai. It explores how criminal activities range from drug corporation to savage murders. It narrates how people were victimized by poverty. It eroticizes how the liberation of the sex crime as the culture of modernity for surviving in the city. It laments over the emotional attachment which modern people have lost.
In chapter three Field describes the road of Shanghai," Hundreds of rickshaws were ploughing through a milling throng of people, jostling towards the market place" (37). This paragraph describes the crowd of people trolling through the market as a major symbol of modernity. In the place, where modernity starts to leave its steps, the first and most important sign in the increment of population. In the novel Shanghai's population increment is because of immigrant Russians as described by Field in chapter four," A lot of the white Russians who fled the Bolsheviks live here and have shops and small business. There are thousands of them here now, most in a desperate situation- all formal army officers and their families or professionals or aristocrats"(48).
Along with the rise of population modern notions of differentiation develops, capitalism boosts and the city gets born. In chapter four, the new face of modern Shanghai can be observed when Field describes about its external geography in a letter to his sister, "The big groups here are the Americans and the British and they have build great houses and offices of the Bund- the waterfront which makes the city felt like Paris or New York" (47). This shows that Shanghai has stepped in the time modernity in China as the representation of East's new life.
Field also asserts that there seems nothing that one can't buy in Shanghai and there is so much for sale. Another most important feature of city is that if you have money, you can almost buy anything. So, the obsession of money guides the psychology of the modern men. Hence, money is the commonest denominator. Everything is reduced to money. In the essay by George Simmel it is stated that," The money economy dominates the metropolis. Only money economy has filled the days of so many people with weighing, calculating, with numerical determinations, with the reduction of qualitative values to quantitative values" (185).
Monetary psychology is mainly observed in the confession of Natasha Medvedev; the female protagonist of the novel. She clarifies how she came to the prostitution," We went on telling him that we were teaching and he knew that we are poor, but believed that we were honest. Our hunger grew and then papa was ill and needed medicine and we had no money for that. I have no one. So, I go down to rue Wagner and I take off my clothes" (413). Such condition of undesired, repulsive compulsion of selling once body is a feature of experiencing modernity in 1920s Shanghai. it was also the time when there was corruption of American dream as presented in F. Scott Fitzerald's novel The Great Gatsby.
Another prominent feature of modern Shanghai is media. The mushrooming of print media, especially news papers shows the viral culture of modernity. Not only that but such news papers used to be reported with crime, murder, thrilling actions and political propaganda. In novel, certain popular newspapers and magazines of that time are frequently repeated. In chapter four, Field observes the newspapers put on his table reading the name ," China Weekly Review, Voice of China, Shopping News, Law Journal, New York Times, Daily Mail, The North China Daily News, The Shanghai Times, The Evening Times, Echo, The Evening Mercury and The Journal de Shanghai" (45).
Many crime stories of murder is revealed by Field through the archives of newspaper. He comes to concrete decision of Lena Orlov's murder through the archives of Daily China Mail. He comes to find out the serial killer and finally threatens Chinese mafia Lu to his secret illegal transaction of money and under world business of drugs to inform to New York Times if he does not free Natasha Medvedev.
" If anything befalls me or the girl, or the boy, then you will have a front page article in the New York Times all to yourself and that will just be the beginning of your problems" (575). So, how media was the best propaganda player, detective agency and the secret flasher during those times is exposed in this novel.
Another remarkable feature of modernity is lust. In chapter twenty eight, the love making scene between Field and Natasha is narrated very erotically, "She inhaled sharply as he traced his fingures down between her breasts, slipping them inside her gown. He put his lips to his skin. He sank to his knees, feeling the curve of the breast with his hand, her nipple hard as he took it into his mouth. His hands ran off her thighs, over her hips and between her legs. He kissed her harder and she leant back, holding the door frame behind her with one hand and his head with the other, her breathing punctuated in almost inaudible gaps" (315).
This novel is technically full of lust and sensuality that makes the vulgarity of languages. It shows people desiring sexual freedom without the concern of emotional intimacy. There was lack of emotional love because it could bring you responsibility and burden of economy. It is manifested in the reply of Sergie; the former band friend of Lena Orlov who replies to Caprissi in a question whether he knew anything personal about her or not.
"I fuck her sometimes. Sometimes she comes here and cry and I let her, then I fuck her some more. We only fucked nothing else" (151). It verifies the mutual strangeness. As a result of this according to Simmel, "Touch and go elements of metropolitan life necessitates our reserve" (187).
The power of money controlling the faith of the people of city is also exposed in this novel. Chinese mafia Lu has control over Shanghai through his illegal business of money and opium. He has bought every high class government officials and form the syndicate called Cabal. It is expressed by Sergie in question from Field about Lu," Cabal has guarded its secret walls. It’s a syndicate. Its about connections. Lu provides the opium and then they stack it into the machines and import huge quantities of it into Europe. The authorities here, the police, everyone is well managed" (435).
Simmel in his critical essay verifies the power of money in modern life and trade claiming," Money with all it colorness and indifference, becomes the common denominator of all values. All things float with equal specific gravity in the constantly moving stream of money" (187).
The sense of this reserve can be seen in the narratives of Natasha about Lena. Being a next door neighbor Natasha seems quiet indifferent to the murder of Lena. Being in the same flat Natasha didn’t use to care and talk with Lena. It shows the blasé attitude (186) of modern man as claimed by Simmel. Natasha didn’t know what was happening with Lena when inquired by detectives. She simply says them," There is nothing I can do for you" (30). Due to the intensification of nervous stimulation, she doesn't want to involve in the chaos. She wants to defend her freedom. She doesn't want to get hurt by mafia. So, to protect her own privacy, freedom, and individuality, the indifference to Lena's murder becomes her necessity. So, as argued by Simmel as a modern people, she reacts with her head instead of heart" (184).
The overall tone and theme of the novel is strongly clutched by money psychology. Field is guided by urban mind. Geoffrey Donaldson is guided by urban mind. Master of all mafia Lu Huang is the stake holder of all that. Field is overwhelmed by 'How much' (187) psychology because he even couldn't buy a new suit due to lack of money. He wears the same suit from his home (Ireland); thick and white. So, he is even called polar bear by his friend Caprissi. He writes about money to his sister.
"My salary is yet, very poor, allowing me to survive but no more. I will get on, though and make some money here. Lu is making too much money to want Bolshevik revolution" (51). This clarifies how money, mafia and metropolis are connected. Hence, it justifies Shanghai as the thrilling modern city.
Above all crime, drug dealing and illegal transaction of money is also one of the extraordinary feature of modern city. Shanghai has all these qualities here. Shanghai presents the grim picture of modern, communal gang war. When the head of CID Patrick Granger is shot dead by the gangs of Lu, we can observe the trend of modern war.
"He swung himself round as the door above him opened and he saw Patrick Granger charging out, as if in slow motion, his gun in his hand. He fired. He was shouting. Field turned his head once more to see a man towering above him, a machine gun in his hand" (496).
This novel presents how the mafia used money to buy and dominate the police and other government officials. It s clear when a letter informing Field that his account was credited by six hundred dollors in a single night comes from the Honkong Shanghai Bank."New credit;$ 600, Account balance;$ 1,012" (338).
No sense of security also hunts Natasha which makes her keep her mouth closed about her own background, story of migration and Lena's history. So, the very sense of loss of security haunts the city people that can be observed in Natasha. She even hides the reality of her own nephew. She fears that mafia and government will find her. She fears that she might lose freedom.
The novel moves around the undetectable features of city. It has everything that makes a city life worth. The review by the times magazine says that," Bradby has used his years as a foreign correspondent to imagine corruption, debauchery, violence and mutual racism of a city that fused some of the Worst Asian and European values" (Printed in the preface page of the novel).
In the beginning of the novel, the lift is described which acts as the sign of upliftment from the rustic, rural area to high fashionable capitalist society. The lift is the prominent indicator of the medium that has carried people from rural life style into a most exotic world. In the first chapter the narrator says," Caprissi hit the button and the lift began to move" (19).
The thrilling scenes of money, mafia, with media is well represented here which marks Shanghai as the city of prominent modernity. Money allures all and forces them to earn it, mafia that earns the most quantity of money controls media. Media gets new propaganda due the crimes money and mafia create. Media wants crime and murder for it TRP (Television Rating Point).  It is a very characteristic of modernity that haunts everyone to be the number one in the society. Hence, all these elements are interconnected to each other to create a thrilling paranoma of modernity and the city in this novel. Shanghai ultimately stands as fragmented metropolis where everything was for sale-especially human beings.

Works cited
Bradby, Tom."The Master of Rain." London: Corgi Books, Bantam Press, 2002. Print.
Simmel, Georg."The Metropolis and Mental Life." Tr. and ed. Kurt H. Wolf.The Sociology of Georg Simmel. New York: Tree Press of Glencoe, 1964.182-190. Print.
Childs, Peter. Modernism: The New Critical Idiom, 2^nd ed. London: