Chapter 1 summary-Alexia

Jim dreams of the war because of the many war films he has seen. He prepares to go to a Christmas fancy dress party and convinces his seventeen year old governess to go and see her parents, who live in one room in the ghetto of Shanghai, so he could roam the house free once he has got back from the party, where his parents are staying to dinner. His parents are worried by the war and don't want their son carrying guns, so he is made to take his model aeroplane to the party instead. Jim can see his father's worry and exhaustion and so decides to obey him. As they leave for the party he is happy to see that all the other Europeans in Shanghai are doing the same.