20th Century East Asia: Cultural Revolution, Family Loyalty, and Class Patriotism - Essay Sample

During the twentieth century in East Asia, there existed multiple revolutions. Cultural Revolution was dominant during the period. However, most people still knew the repercussions of upholding to the revolution; they even progressed on with it. During the period, it affected both family loyalty and class patriotism. Furthermore, the Cultural Revolution was a political crime, and it was punished differently by those who were in power. The Gang of Four could murder an entire family instantly while the Military Control Commission imprisoned an individual if they were found to be a member of the revolution. The paper focuses on the harm against families resulting from the Cultural Revolution.

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Due to the revolution, the narrator describes how he killed her father with her own hands. The revolution was entangled with a cloud of sadness. It can be related through the way the speaker explained the death of his father among her neighbours who were abused by the Red guards. It led to families to lie about reality. An example is that the narrator’s sister has never revealed anything to her husband concerning her family; how her father and mother died, and how her sister ended up in jail.

The narrator felt that she had betrayed her entire family. She did not recover from the reality that she killed her father. She explained how questions about whether she was guilty or not kept crisscrossing her mind. However, despite that, her siblings still believed in her as they told her that they had understood the circumstances. Also, during the revolution, every family was eligible to get ransacked by the red guards. No class was given priority by them. The narrator explains that she was a doctor in a children’s hospital. However, that did not hinder her nor her family from getting ransacked.

Due to the revolution, no one was valued, not even the sick. The speaker narrates that she was ill. She had contracted hepatitis together with her medical team. The fact did not hinder the Red guards from perpetrating in their family.

The narrator illustrates that the harm and doom of her family commenced on 26th august 1966. She notes that it was the climax of the revolution, together with the ransacking in the city. Due to the uncertainty of who could be a member of the revolution, the Red Guards could put false evidence on someone while ransacking their homes. They denied landlords their rights to rent out their inherited houses. Narrator’s father was declared a capitalist, and this led them to smash their house into bits.

A painting connected to the Americans beliefs led to an actual nightmare to her family. Without any proof, they were termed to have imperialist connections. The revolution led families to suffer for a lost cause. An example is that the narrator’s family suffered for being spies, yet it was not the case. They were instructed to kneel in the hallway. They were mercilessly tortured for a couple of days. The revolution cost families to starve. Due to the ransacking of homes, people were left with nothing to eat.

Several families were left with nothing to act as a shelter after their homes were burnt down following many bonfires in the city. Injured family members did not receive treatment during the revolutionary period. The only option was for the families to send letters or leave them for family members who were away describing the situations. Mostly, the letters bore the same message, we are the common enemy of people and that the great proletarian cultural revolution had to continue.