Prof. Huertes Antoinette Jenkins
Themed Essay #1
The House Behind A Weeping Cherry
I believe an individual can blame their country for their personal trouble because that country could be a place where people are mistreated by the government. Living in China during the time of the Cultural Revolution people were persecuted and thrown into prison because they were speaking out against low pay wages and poverty. As in the story “The House Behind A Weeping Cherry”, Lili was smuggled into this country illegally by a man who used her and other women in slave labor such as prostitution. Lili was desperate to get out of China because of the ill treatment the peopled faced. She wanted to start a new life in the U.S. where she would have a chance to make a better life for herself and to make more money to send back to her family in China.
Lili was in a trap or a common cycle for women who fall prey to men who take advantage of people who seemingly have no other choices in life. She blamed her country for the situation she finds herself in because the country failed the people by causing them to use any means necessary to flee. People were dying from poverty and starvation as well as sickness and disease. They had little or no medical care and the working conditions were poor and unsafe. Lili knew she had to leave China somehow even if it meant being placed in slave labor as a prostitute.
During this time in China, the people were fighting and demonstrating in the streets. They were dying for the right to fair treatments as a citizen of China. They were demonstrating for an increase in pay wages so that they would be able to care for their families. As with so many countries, there are different classes of people. The poor people were doing all of the labor and didn’t make enough money to visit a doctor’s office for a regular physical exam. The people couldn’t pay for decent housing and ended up living in huts or in the