Red Scarf Girl Essay

“Where ever I go, the Cultural Revolution followed me,” Said a reminiscing, Chinese woman as she summarized her troublesome past in only one sentence. That woman was Ji-Li Jiang, author of children’s books such as The Magical Monkey King and Lotus and Feather. But one auto-biography has touched the hearts of many with its inspiring, melodramatic memoirs of a girl’s life during the Cultural Revolution. The Red Scarf Girl tells the story of Jiang as a twelve-year old girl in 1960s China through a central theme of having courage, even in the darkest times.

While the Cultural Revolution struck terror into the souls of many people who were condemned “black”, Jiang and her family kept courage and survived until the end. For example, she stated that, “Excited at the idea of getting up and going out at dawn, I volunteered to buy meat and vegetables at the market. This was the hardest job, but considering Grandma’s age-she was over seventy-and Mom’s and Dad’s busy schedules, I felt it was my duty.” This proves that Jiang shows extreme dedication by stepping up to support her siblings, parents, and grandmother through a period of suffering. Even

though it is a strenuous task, she takes the responsibility into her own hands and is determined to do whatever it takes just to care for her loved ones.
Even her English teacher, Zhang Xin’s, conference with Jiang supported the fact that courage still existed in her heart.

“You have self-esteem, and you always try to excel. That’s why I believe you are brave enough to face and eventually overcome the difficulties of life.” he described his heartfelt thoughts to her. As it was back in her primary school days, this message opened Jiang’s mind to the opportunities that she thought her family background was obstructing her from. She now had a new objective; to stand up as an “educable” child and prove that she wasn’t corrupt as her landlord heritage said she was. Teacher Zhang also wanted her to relive the same enthusiasm as her past self in primary school; always brave enough to tower over the test score rankings in her class overall, and always proud as a student council

president.
In the end, the Jiang family’s possessions, hopes, and dreams were taken away since the last ransacking, but somehow, they still manage to survive in a period of punishment. Their grandmother, a landlord’s wife, was publicly humiliated while sweeping the streets, and the rest were only spared an empty, lifeless shell of an apartment. But one shining ray of hope beamed throughout the eternal despair. “I had promised to take care of my family, and I would renew that promise every day. I could not give up or withdraw, no matter how life became. I would hide my tears and my fear for Mom and Grandma’s sake. It was my turn to take care of them.” This inner monologue was the crucial moment when Jiang Ji-li rebirthed a new confidence during her promise with her mother, and to her whole family for the rest of her life.
Through the trials and tributes of the Cultural Revolution, one Chinese student dealt with heartbreak, shame, and moral degradation by many revolutionary forces, in and out of school. But the one force that kept her going in mid-twentieth century China was the simple emotion of courage. As shown by her experiences with taking the weight off the hardest chores onto her shoulders, rediscovering herself with Teacher Zhang’s words, and making a promise to support her family until the end of time, Jiang had demonstrated a great feat of bravery that would be recorded in history. Hopefully, the call to courage would inspire us, and future generations, to face our fears with our own hopes and dreams.