"The Man from a Peddler's Family" is a short story by Lu Wenfu that discusses the social impact of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Themes of community and communism are prominent throughout the story, which focuses on two protagonists. Mr. Gao is a communist cadre, while Zhu Yuanda is a wonton peddler who comes from a family of street vendors. The story explores their friendship through the lens of Chinese beliefs on community and the Cultural Revolution.
The Cultural Revolution
Mr. Gao is a powerful and educated man who represents the traditional values of communist society. With Mao's rise to power and the Chinese Cultural Revolution came the widespread belief that Western ideals of capitalism and economic independence would corrupt Chinese society. Gao echoes these beliefs the way he discusses Zhu Yuanda, who represents the Western ideals of capitalism and independence. Gao is disturbed by the Anti-Rightist agenda that fought to hold back Mao's Great Leap Forward, and he believes that street vendors, who operate independently, are a threat to the current communist system. For his part, Zhu argues that he is no true threat to the communist system because he is simply selling things the government will not provide.
Relationships and Community
"The Man from a Peddler's Family" uses mundane topics, such as the selling of street food, to represent some of the more nebulous elements of the struggle between capitalism and communism. Zhu once showed charity to Gao by bringing him wonton soup to eat while he was poor and unable to obtain regular employment. Despite this charity, Gao later forbids his family from buying from Zhu's food stand in fear of the threat to communism that he represents. In this way, Lu Wenfu gives a subtle critique of the damage that communist ideals can do to a community and the relationships of the people within it. Gao and the other advocates of communism fear that the encroaching Western value of capitalism will lead people to be selfish and stop thinking of the good of the community. However, it is obvious from their respective actions that Zhu has a more developed sense of community and interpersonal relationships than Gao does.
https://books.google.com/books?id=_WzADAAAQBAJ&pg=PA177&lpg=PA177&dq=The+Man+from+a+Peddler%27s+Family&source=bl&ots=BiueWXVfxf&sig=KjCR9D67sIzEs7P2tMrVBqIPo0o&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjT2aag-NHQAhXk1IMKHeU-CrQ4ChDoAQgnMAQ
https://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/stories/1997/06/30/newscolumn4.html
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Based on "The Man from a Peddler's Family" by Lu Wenfu, what are two major themes that are developed throughout the story? One theme should be related to the Cultural Revolution and one theme about a more universal topic, such as love, family relationships or identity.
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