ABSTRACT
The Rings of Saturn is about mourning, specifically Sebald's mourning of destruction. This chapter explains why interspersed with images of barrenness, wretchedness, forlornness, death, and desertion lonely streets, run-down hotels, forsaken forts, ruinous graveyards, empty beaches, and bleak wilderness. The major concern of Sebald's text is indeed the fragments left behind, the debris or derelict matter of destruction. To piece together these fragments, to search among rubble for the meanings of history, means to refuse to forget. Indeed, the house is 'imperceptibly nearing the brink of dissolution and silent oblivion'. This perception and description of Somerleyton Hall sets the tone for The Rings of Saturn. Sebald continues his reflections upon the socio-political turmoil of the late Qing period. He brings into focus familiar incidents, including the Opium War, the Taiping rebellion, and most importantly, the total sacking and destruction of Yuan Ming Yuan, or the Summer Palace, by the joint forces of France and Britain.
