The Mao Button, Black Walls, And Communist China - 1131 Words

Title Goes Here The eighteenth-century German philosopher Johann Wolfgang van Goethe is quoted as saying: â€Å"None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free†. If Goethe, who died in the early 1800s, could have looked forward a hundred and twenty years to Mao Zedong’s Communist China, he would have doubtless seen his words ring painfully true. Mao’s dynastic rule survived on elimination of any thought deemed contrary to his own. Those who dared to speak out were dealt with swiftly and severely. Yet some people did not believe they were free, and were willing to do risk everything to subvert Mao’s manufactured culture. â€Å"The Mao Button†, â€Å"Black Walls†, and â€Å"Dogshit Food† are short stories that criticize the†¦show more content†¦People were so obsessed with proving their dedication to Mao that they lost sight of how irrationally they were acting. The author of The Mao Button uses extreme hyperbole to satirize this personality worship. The entire country of China lived with a deep-seated fear that their dedication to the Chairman would be called into question, and they would not be able to prove themselves - and thus would face ridicule, or the even punishment. Indeed, a mere lapel pin was enough by which to judge someone’s patriotism. The cultural satire exemplified in The Mao Button also manifests in Black Walls, in which author Liu Xin-wu uses satire to expose the dangers of the group-think prevalent in Communist China. At the beginning of the story, a young man named Mr. Zhao decides to paint his room. His neighbors, who share a communal courtyard with him, think nothing of this at first. But then, panic strikes: â€Å"Mr. Zhou was not spraying his walls white but black! He was actually spraying his walls black† (173). His neighbors cannot understand this decision. Why would anyone want walls any color but white? They theorize that Mr. Zhou must be suffering from a critical mental illness. Should they call a doctor, or should they call the police? To the reader of Black Walls, this panic seems completely ridiculous. Why do the walls of everyone’s house need to be white? In Western culture, freedom of thought and freedom of choiceShow MoreRelatedOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words   |  656 PagesMeyerowitz, ed., History and September 11th John McMillian and Paul Buhle, eds., The New Left Revisited David M. Scobey, Empire City: The Making and Meaning of the New York City Landscape Gerda Lerner, Fireweed: A Political Autobiography Allida M. Black, ed., Modern American Queer History Eric Sandweiss, St. Louis: The Evolution of an American Urban Landscape Sam Wineburg, Historical Thinking and Other Unnatural Acts: Charting the Future of Teaching the Past Sharon Hartman Strom, Political Woman:Read MoreManagement Course: Mba−10 General Management215330 Words   |  862 Pages253 279 1. The Value−Based Management Framework: An Overview 2. Why Value Value? 4. The Value Manager Harvard Business Review Finance Articles Eclipse of the Public Corporation 308 308 323 323 330 330 Article How I Learned to Live with Wall Street Article Second Thoughts on Going Public Article Reed−Lajoux †¢ The Art of M A: Merger/Acquisitions/Buyout Guide, Third Edition 10. Postmerger Integration 336 336 Text Hodgetts−Luthans−Doh †¢ International Management, Sixth Edition