Grace Stockdale Wild Swans II

Well, as of now I'm infuriated. The Authors mother just discovered she was pregnant, AFTER WALKING SO MANY MILES ON FOOT and going through tremendous labor. Her husband rode the horse because he was of higher rank; however she was forced to walk. As a result of this she is now encountering problems. I predict that the baby will be a miscarriage. I think that is the hardest thing about being women during the revolution. Basic needs are not met, and respect for women is swindled. Luckily her husband seems like a good man; hopefully he will change to see her as equal.

This book is showing not telling about the Chinese Cultural Revolution. The Communist Parys didn’t seem so bad at first, for the authors Mother was working her way up the ranks, starting off by marring her husband, a strong communist party official, and soon she will be a full blow part of the revolution. I guess you could say that the author’s grandmother did contribute to the revolution, by giving birth to the author’s mother. Maoism seems to be working...for now. I just know that the labor that the people are doing is insane, and that the fact that Mao is tearing apart families, just so it can hopefully strengthen the Communist party is selfish and inhumane.

I see this book as not only bursting with drama, heart break, and horror, but it is extraordinary in the way that it not just a story of the three women during the revolution, but more, a story of the people of China during this change. When the author’s mother is working as a barefoot doctor, for example, she is just one of the women who had to do that. She symbolizes the hundreds of thousands of people who had to succumb to the powers of Mao, and the Communist Party. It is through her life, her mother’s life, and through that of the author that history unfolds and is exposed.

This book was an essential read because it not only taught me about the revolution, but what it was like during those times for the innocent people of china. They had to pretend that they supported this type of government and that they stood behind all the barbaric things Mao enforced. They were living a lie, and the only way to survive was to keep on doing it. This is no text book. It doesn't feel like a lecture because these things are real and draw the reader into the story upon story of the people who are united in one way; they all have suffered the tolls of communism.