rise to power

It was interesting to read this book directly following Hurka's book, as I felt that the contrast between Hurka's father fighting Communism and Di's father working underground for them to be profound. As I was reading the first few pages, while Di tells us of his father's actions before and during the Revolution of 1949 and his following high-ranking position, I couldn't help but compare to Hurka's father's experiences, and how similar they were despite being on opposite sides of the issue.

Of course, nothing is that black and white, and as we delve deeper into the novel, we come to see the Communism become an oppressive force under Chairman Mao. As throughout the rest of this semester, in our books we have been reading, the issue of atrocities and oppression continually comes up and how these cycles can repeat themselves as younger generations move away from the lessons learned from the old. What really struck me in this novel was how gradual the brainwashing and takeover of Mao is; as this person comes into power, the country is taught to revere and respect him and that his teachings are wise and unquestionable. This mindset is perpetuated until Mao becomes almost a "demi-god", and to disagree or show dissent can be punished severely. We watch, along with Di, as this mindset sweeps across the nation and influences an entire generation, who are being brainwashed and have not even realized it. Di begins to get a glimmer when, as he is practicing for an air raid with his classmates, when the whistle blows he immediately covers Mao's portrait with his own body in order to protect it. He is praised highly for this, as it shows he loves Mao more than anything, including himself; Di reflects that he does not know if this was true, but something changed in him that day.

This is the kind of thing that very much piques my interest, as I can draw these parallels both to other works we've read this semester, and to our current political situation now. It seems that it can take so little for someone like Mao - who radiates power through false modesty (calling his ideas Mao's Thoughts rather than Maoism) and has a charisma that draws people in - to rise to a dictatorship on the backs of the countrymen who support and idolize him. These people hold him in such regard that, when they are punished for their perceived rebellious actions, they gladly take the blame. They go over their own choices and actions and try to find where they went wrong, so that they may believe that their punishment was deserved. There is something terrifying in that, to me. These are the seeds that take root and make totalitarianism possible, and the oppressed may not realize what has happened until they have lost everything and they are already in too deep to be able to change it. And so the cycle begins again.