Red Scarf Girl book - Essay Example

Red Scarf Girl Red Scarf Girl “Red Scarf Girl’ is an autobiography, written by Ji-li Jiang. This book illustrates the life events sufferings and experiences of Ji-li-Jang, when she had strong thoughts of making her dreams come true. But she fails, when the period of Cultural Revolution begins in 1966, destroying the dreams of Ji-li-Jiang. Ji-li-Jiang family got bad family background because of the wealthy landlord background of her grandfather. This bad family status created a lot of sufferings and hurdles in the path way of Ji-li-Jiang, to achiever her goals.

Ji-li-Jiang was the topper of her class and also the president of Student Council at her school. She was to appear in the auditions of Central Liberation Army Arts Academy. Ji-li-Jiang’s father dissuaded her to drop down this audition because of their poor family status. At that time, Ji-li-Jiang had no idea of what her father was really talking about. Ji-li-Jiang’s family was considered a “Black Family” and she was also used to be accused for her family old ways, the Four Olds (Old Customs, Old Culture, Old Habits, and Old Ideas).

The Chairman Mao used to protest against these Four Olds, which Ji-li-Jiang family was highly fond of. Ji-li-Jiang was forced and pressurized to make her choice following that, “Now, you have to choose between two roads. You can break with your family and follow Chairman Mao, or you can follow your father and become an enemy of the people”. Few events occurred at that time of Cultural Revolution, which made Ji-li-Jiang realize that her family is more important to her than to follow Chairman Mao.

First, Ji-li-Jiang closest friends betrayed her in helping her to abolish the Four Olds to become a Red Guard and to also prevent herself from getting arrest for these Four Olds. The Campaign against the Four Olds was assigned to write the dreadful posters against their teachers, which Ji-li-Jiang failed to do because it was difficult and against her moral values to insult her teachers like this. Because of it, one day a Campaign member (da-zi-bao) enfolds that Ji-li has a relationship with a male teacher.

Due to this amplification, Ji-li parents suggested her to stay at home to avoid such shame. After coming back to school Ji-li gets nominated for the Red Successor for the future generation of Red Guards. But her poor background gets revealed again to the whole class by Du Hai, which made her dropped out of the nomination. Then Ji-li’s graduation tests termination takes place. And Ji-li was to move to Shi-yi Junior High School recommended by her teacher, which was later cancelled too because of invalidation of assignments to the school by the teacher.

Then Ji-li was forced to move to Xin-zha Junior High School along with her neighborhood. The Campaign against the Four Olds began to hunt for the houses comprising of the Four Olds. These Red Guards used to start their raids at night, when Jiang’s are asleep. Several were fired, there houses were trashed dismantling the Four Olds radically. Dark Age of Jiang’s begins, schools were shut down. Ji-li and her classmates were sent to countryside to work on fields as labors. All these events profoundly devastated Ji-li.

She faced shame, insult, soulless and left out by everyone so often. Cultural Revolution era not only dejected and astonished Ji-li but also made her realize that politician world is not made for her, and her family is only her foremost and last priority. After coming back from the countryside, Ji-li looked after her parents and moves to America, and forms a Company that brings back both the Western and Chinese cultures. (Jiang)ReferencesJiang, Ji-li. Red Scarf Girl. China, 1998.