The Call: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Call: Analysis of Major Characters" delves into the lives of key figures in the context of Christian and humanitarian missions in early twentieth-century China, amidst a backdrop of turmoil and change. Central to the narrative is David Treadup, a passionate and self-sacrificing man whose journey from a troubled youth to a charismatic leader demonstrates his dedication to evangelism and modernization efforts in China. His experiences, ranging from profound disillusionment during the Japanese occupation to his eventual imprisonment by the People's Liberation Army, illustrate the complexities of his faith and mission work.
Emily Kean Treadup, David's supportive wife, embodies resilience and compassion through her community initiatives and efforts against social injustices, even while coping with her personal tragedies. The character of Johnny Wu, a young Chinese man, highlights the intersection of ambition and cultural identity as he strives for literacy and independence. Other notable figures include LinFuChen, a progressive intellectual and friend who promotes education, and James B. Todd, a skeptical yet influential evangelist whose relationship with Treadup is marked by manipulation and admiration.
Through these characters, the narrative explores themes of sacrifice, cultural conflict, and the transformative power of faith, offering insights into the complexities faced by those engaged in missions during a period of significant historical upheaval.
The Call: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: John Hersey
First published: 1985
Genre: Novel
Locale: Upstate New York and northeastern China
Plot: Historical
Time: 1878–1981
David Treadup, a courageous, vital, and self-sacrificing man who devotes his life to Christian and humanitarian missions in the shifting, violent world of China during the first half of the twentieth century. Given to binges of vandalism in his youth, David pursues classical learning to escape the hard life of his parents' farm. Following his religious conversion in 1903, his mind and body thrive. A handsome and large young man, he finds an outlet for his leadership skills and personal magnetism in the campus YMCA. At the age of twenty-seven, he embarks for China with a burning desire to evangelize that land through Gospel preaching. Soon disillusioned with the methods of old-fashioned missions, Treadup looks for another door into the Chinese mind. With his overpowering body and charisma, Treadup mesmerizes millions during his lectures on the gyroscope, airplane, and wireless, convincing listeners that the unseen is real and propelling them toward the modernization of China. He perseveres even during a bout with dysentery, delivering his lectures from a horizontal position onstage. During the early years of communist revolution in China, Treadup develops a hatred of violence. Suffering through years of diabolical Japanese occupation, Treadup experiences uncertainty, loneliness for his wife, deprivation, and a frustrating halt to his work. Confined to a prison camp, he becomes defeated and exhausted, a totally broken man. He ceases his prayers and loses touch with God, eventually coming to believe that there is no God. His unexpected release by the Japanese brings great sorrow to Treadup, for he must leave the work of a lifetime. When Treadup returns to China in a war rehabilitation position, he is arrested by the People's Liberation Army. As their prisoner, he experiences total deprivation. Accused of being an agent of American capitalism, he undergoes the ultimate humiliation: The voices of the Chinese people convict him in an open-air trial. Shortly after his expulsion from the People's Republic of China, he dies in Thornhill, New York, at the age of seventy-two.
Emily Kean Treadup, an attractive, serene woman who brings love and balance into David Treadup's life. During periods of potential fretfulness as his wife, Emily becomes hyperactive in community works, founding the Anti-Footbinding League in Tientsin and working against child labor, opium dens, prostitution, and the horrible working conditions for women in factories. Throughout her life, she grieves for the loss of her baby, Nancy. Usually, she is submissive, but she is self-confident as she rears her three sons on the mission field. Emily is a beautiful woman who remains sensual through her middle years, but when she finally returns to the United States alone during the Japanese occupation of China, she becomes frail and ancient-looking. She dies shortly after David's return to New York, seemingly as a consequence of being relieved of her duties at Thornhill Free Library.
Johnny Wu, an ambitious, American-educated young Chinese man who, with David Treadup's help, develops a program for Chinese literacy. He estranges Treadup by retaining only nationals in the organization after it is off the ground, but the missionary admires his ebullience throughout all of China's woes.
LinFuChen, a Westernized Chinese intellectual, Tread-up's most influential friend during his early years in China. He opens Peikai University for the teaching of science, economics, and liberal arts.
James B. Todd, the handsome blond evangelist who directs the YMCA's foreign missions from his elegant office in New York City. Motivated by self-love and overconfidence, he is skeptical and at times even antagonistic toward Treadup's philosophy and programs. He manages, however, to manipulate the missionary, who holds his power and charisma in awe.
Roscoe Hersey, a missions volunteer who relieves the young Treadup in Tientsin. Later, he becomes general secretary of the YMCA. He is devoted to his work and the Chinese and is serious, gentle, and tactful. After working in flood relief, he becomes ill with encephalitis and returns to the United States.
Phineas Cunningham, an irrepressible British physician who becomes Treadup's only English friend in his entire lifetime. A brilliant man of letters and a student of culture and religion, he is an agnostic who chips away at Treadup's Christianity during their work together improvising medical care in Tientsin and in Japanese prison camps.