Jan Wong starts out as a naïve, nineteen year old, Canadian student who is displeased with the capitalistic nature of her surroundings. It was the early seventies and to the author, she was experiencing a cultural revolution all her own. Opposition to the Vietnam War was strongly prevalent, the notion of feminism was beginning to arise, and there was a strong desire against conformity of any nature. The author grew up middle class to second generation Chinese citizens and was fueled by bourgeois guilt, and by a feeling of separation from her roots. “Curiosity about my ancestry made me feel ashamed that I couldn’t speak Chinese and knew so little about China” (14). After devouring every morsel of information that she could, she firmly believed Mao and his “comrades” were the only people who had a legit shot at establishing a utopic society. It was official. Jan Wong was going to Beijing.…
The representation of the warrior figure contrasts within The 500 Years of Resistance Comic Book by Gord Hill and AlterNatives by Drew Hayden Taylor. Both comic and play script highlight two spectrums in which the warrior figure can be depicted. They both indicate a more militant perspective in which Warriors are shown to represent their interests and reject those that disagree. 500 years of Resistance largely highlights the physical struggle of warriors against European conquest and colonialism whilst Alternatives represents the recently found use of intellect to argue for Native rights and retain its history. Both texts also acknowledge a diminished warrior figure, one in which is overwhelmed and subordinated physically in Hill’s comic and one that is subordinated socially in AlterNatives.…
8. Leah begins to learn about the political history and events in China. What does she learn about life under Mao and Deng? What is Grandfather’s attitude to the protesters and why? (pages 37-38)…
Fanatics ready to commit violence and denounce anyone in the name of communism - or heroes who sacrificed personal comfort to work for the greater good? Conflicting images of the Red Guards summed up Western confusion about Mao's China. Mo Bo remembers what it was really like to be a Red Guard.…
Instead, her story was one of defiance and rage against her circumstances. Repeatedly, Ung actively resists the values and propaganda of Angkar (Ung, p. 132). Her family is framed in the same purposive manner. Her mother’s resistance and the depictions of her siblings’ sacrifices illustrate how Ung found meaning in family amidst the horrors. Moreover, the structure of the book resembles many purposive narratives because it depicts fighting against events to return home (Warren lecture). Ung defied Met Bong to visit Ma and she struggled out of Cambodia to return home years later (Ung, p. 152, 160, 238).…
Our praise and treatment of these types of heroes is in its own way a form of acceptance and justification of the cruel deeds carried out by these men in the name of progress. He feels that history is told through the point of view of governments and leaders to conceal the truth of the people who had to pay an unjust price for the sake of others they probably did not know. He gives many examples within his book that shows how certain facts are covered up or briefly brought up and dismissed. When studying or just sharing history it is important to have a full understanding of all points of views. When told from just one point of view people may not be as they seem or are portrayed.…
The Mongols were a fierce army that had the strength of a thousand wolves. The Mongols were fired by a lot of people. When the Mongols would come into a close presence of any leader, most of the leaders get suspicious because they fear that the Mongols may try to overtake them. The Mongols scared almost all people they came in counter with. The mongols were so scary and big that hired mercenaries from their enemies have even stopped and joined them because they knew they couldn't with the fight.…
[ 9 ]. Anderson L., J (1997). Che Guevara: A Revolutionary Life. New York: Grove Press. Pg. 740…
Growing up in the United States, my mother's side of the family would annually host a day to pray for our deceased relatives. They suffered a distressing escape from the Vietnam War in order to integrate back into normal society. Despite some of my relatives say we had the fortune of a red envelope, numerous family members told me that the Communists caused us to suffer. At five years old, I believed everything they said; especially things from my parents because I was naïve. After all these years, I realized not all is true; my family only explained the negative side of the story without acknowledging the affirmative version of the Communists. Especially after reading Loung Ung’s First They Killed My Father, Communist Vietnam quite frankly seemed passive and amiable to the Cambodians and saved them from the Khmer Rouge. This crossed my thoughts on this Communist nation; I had two sources which were contrary. Therefore, I strive to understand the reasons why Vietnam liberated the Khmer people from the Cambodian Government yet they fought their own people. The lingering fear in my family needs elimination; they need the truth behind the works of Communist Vietnam.…
Cited: Shiga, Naoya. "Han 's Crime." Trans. Ivan Morris. World Views: Classic and Contemporary Readings. 6th edition Ed. Darron Felty, Ed Macy, Ann Mcdonalad, Jack Trotten, Roger Westand, Susan Williams, New York: Pearson Learning Solutions, 2010. 249-257. Print.hhhHHHSDHIADS…
Conflict can be a manipulating force that transforms those in power to uncontrollable variables beyond our imagination of moral humanity. It is the powerless that are called to rapidly adapt process and calculate these changes in order to survive. In a conflict change is inevitable for both parties involved; we are all somehow affected and shaped by conflict. In the film “Paradise Road” this concept of powerful versus the powerless is explored through the way in which the Prisoners of war were unpredictably ambushed by the Japanese which ultimately forced the women to change their ways and unite as one, instead of a group of multicultural imprisoned individuals. The women were oblivious to their capture and had the expectation to be treated with the basic human rights stated under the Geneva Convention, although their expectations were forced changed when they were faced with the harsh conditions of Sumatra. This “unexpected ambush” could almost fall under the category of Guerrilla warfare which refers to conflicts by small groups which use military tactics such as raids and the ‘element of surprise’ with extraordinary mobility to harass a vulnerable target. This form of warfare was also experienced in a more modern scenario between the years of 1975-1979 within the civil wars of Cambodia, where the peasant civilians formed a “piece group” known as the Khmer Rouge, which unexpectedly changed into a “lower class” army out to anyone who was in the “upper-class society” or who had an…
Don’t Look Away The Tank Man- the immensely courageous man who put himself in the way of numerous tanks in Tiananmen Square in opposition of the Chinese government in the fight for democracy- is one of the most well known people who have demonstrated resistance and strength in fighting against injustice. This same idea of resistance is explored in both George Orwell’s novel 1984 and Roger Cohen’s New York Times Op-ed article “Mere Human Behavior”. Both Orwell and Cohen suggest that resistance gives us hope that change is possible, and therefore any act of resistance is never futile. Orwell’s dystopian society is a society in which the mere act of having a rebellious thought is considered a crime-“thought-crime” they call it. The relentless…
Huffman argues that identities are complex matter. Identities are historically bound and socially constructed element and it can be changed in time to time. Every individual has own self-identity that defined by own experiences, and cultural practices. Huffman discussed about four theoretical approaches to understanding the role of identities in conflict. Here, I would like to discuss about theory of protected social conflict in the context of Nepalese conflict, which I have experienced in my own life. Nepal is one of the developing country in the world, and suffering from the internal political conflict throughout the decade long civil war. The civil war thrown by the Nepal Communist Party (Maoist) from 1996 and came on the peace agreement…
Based on Orwell’s experience with the Indian Imperial Police (1922-1927), “Shooting an Elephant” is set in Moulmein, in Lower Burma. Orwell, the narrator, has already begun to question the presence of the British in the Far East. He says that, theoretically and secretly, he was “all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British.” Orwell describes himself as “young and ill-educated,” bitterly hating his job.…
While this book is an autobiography of the author and is inevitably subjective, Heinrich Harrer accounts contain a vast treasure trove of information on the culture and politics of Tibet. In his memoir, he has detailed descriptions of the vibrant festivals, colorful traditional costumes, inner working of the government, and intimate knowledge with the young 14th Dalai Lama. Due to his background as an outsider, a white westerner, his accounts are more impartial than others who have written about such topics. He recounts his adventures as one of the first European to ever enter Tibet, study the culture, and encounter the Dalai Lama. The book gives a real and unprecedented insight into Tibet and the current situation, and also about the life of the Dalai…