     Resistance movements to Japanese rule change in character from the earliest establishment of the Taiwan Republic in 1895 Home Rule Movement of the 1920's and 30's. Sporadic uprisings before 1915 died out as new leaders, educated through the Japanese school system, began to take action often times seen tactics learn through the Japanese system, rebel against their leaders. Most of the resistance groups operated through legal channels in the Japanese system-- only the most radical groups resorted to the legal tactics, such as strikes organization, or the publication of blatantly anti-Japanese writings (essays, poems, and stories). Yang Kui was profoundly influenced by the turbulent changes taking place in the economic, social, and intellectual spheres of both Taiwan and Japan. As many of the Taiwanese students studying in Japan began to voice their protest against Japanese columnist, Yang too express his discontent, using literature as a means of protest. The literary movement involving Taiwanese writers represented one section of the larger, political movement that was developing in Japan. Yang Kui was concerned with many of the issues addressed by various groups involved in the overall political movement and he chose to voice is concerned through his writing.

     Yang's first fictional work, "The Newspaper Boy" is regarded as the "first piece of Taiwanese fiction of literary merit that reveals some social truth of Taiwan under Japanese rule." When "The Newspaper Boy," was published in 1935 in Bungaku Hyoron (Literary Review), a response, as it bears similarities to the Japanese proletarian literature that was popular at the time.

     Yang's story opens in Tokyo, were beyond protagonist is seen seeking a job in the Imperial City. The atmosphere is bleak to; the boys for, any unemployment rate in Tokyo is high. After wandering around the city for a full month, the boy finally takes a job as a newspaper delivery boy, only to discover that the newspaper bas music rule, despicable man, and living conditions at the worker's dormitory are almost unbearable.

     Up to this point, the protagonist is not named; he is depicted as a typical, poverty stricken young worker, who could be either Japanese or Taiwanese. Until the story flashes back to the situation in Taiwan, there is no hint at the protagonist is Taiwanese. The flash back to Taiwan includes a detailed description of how the ruthless policies of the Japanese government have affected the lives of even the Taiwanese farmers living in the isolated countryside. The Japanese government wanted to increase the sugar output of the colony; in order to accomplish this, more land was needed for the expansion of the government-sponsored sugar cane farms. Both "dry" fields and "wet" fields (Rice paddies) were extorted from the local farmers.

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