Son of the Revolution
Edward Lee
History without Borders
7/29/2014
The Son of the Revolution
The concept of politics is the driving force that shapes our society and the different parties that exist creates tension such that it affects human relationships. In the memoir The Son of The Revolution, Liang Heng tells his experiences growing up during the political and social turmoil of the Cultural Revolution in China. His tale journeys around the concept of how politics affects human relationships through his separation with his mother, his life with his father, and his return to a Chinese school.
Liang was born into a family where his father was a devote communist reporter and his mother who was accused of being part of a non-communist rightest group called the Hundred Flowers. The Hundred Flowers wanted to purify the communism that currently existed in China by finding faults in the existing communist regime. Liang’s mother did not criticize at first because her she had her job because of the Communist party and loved the party as a result. Mao Zedong, chairman of China, wanted to win the support of intellectuals so her leaders insisted she come up with three “out of duty”, she came up with three which drastically changed her life. From then, the Hundred Flowers Movement changed to the Anti-Rightest Movement in an effort to extract people who did not believe in the communist way. Because their actions were against communism and a revolution was trying to be avoided, they sent anyone associated with the Hundred Flowers to a re-education camp to bring them back in favor of the communist party. Politics played such a large part in the Chinese society that people were tricked into criticizing the party and punished. Liang’s mother was separated from Liang and his family and sent to another part of China for her different political beliefs. Not only was Liang separated from his mother for her non-communist ways, he was bullied and shunned in school because everyone thought he was
History without Borders
7/29/2014
The Son of the Revolution
The concept of politics is the driving force that shapes our society and the different parties that exist creates tension such that it affects human relationships. In the memoir The Son of The Revolution, Liang Heng tells his experiences growing up during the political and social turmoil of the Cultural Revolution in China. His tale journeys around the concept of how politics affects human relationships through his separation with his mother, his life with his father, and his return to a Chinese school.
Liang was born into a family where his father was a devote communist reporter and his mother who was accused of being part of a non-communist rightest group called the Hundred Flowers. The Hundred Flowers wanted to purify the communism that currently existed in China by finding faults in the existing communist regime. Liang’s mother did not criticize at first because her she had her job because of the Communist party and loved the party as a result. Mao Zedong, chairman of China, wanted to win the support of intellectuals so her leaders insisted she come up with three “out of duty”, she came up with three which drastically changed her life. From then, the Hundred Flowers Movement changed to the Anti-Rightest Movement in an effort to extract people who did not believe in the communist way. Because their actions were against communism and a revolution was trying to be avoided, they sent anyone associated with the Hundred Flowers to a re-education camp to bring them back in favor of the communist party. Politics played such a large part in the Chinese society that people were tricked into criticizing the party and punished. Liang’s mother was separated from Liang and his family and sent to another part of China for her different political beliefs. Not only was Liang separated from his mother for her non-communist ways, he was bullied and shunned in school because everyone thought he was