Regarding the Problem of Newborn Piglets in Winter and Dancing for Mao

                Based in China, during the time when Mao’s power was terribly great, these literary works about life during Cultural Revolution are similar, yet very different in the way that the government is perceived.  Jennifer Lin’s article, Dancing for Mao is comparative to Chen Rong’s Regarding the Problem of Newborn Piglets in Winter, in that they both are set in China during the Cultural Revolution.  More different than alike, Lin’s article focuses more on the Chinese people unknowingly integrating and assimilating with the Mao’s ideology.  Rong aims for the opposite; having her characters fully aware of the changes around them and it is not until the very end that her characters finally give into the unknowing integration.  Lin’s portraying of the unknowing integration is much like acceptance.  When asked about the dance she performed as a child, Kang Wenjie “hadn’t even known that the dance she performed that day had a name.” (12)  This means that as a child, Kang’s parents, relatives, or friends had never told her what the dance meant or mentioned anything negative about Mao.  Thus, they too must have become accustomed to this way of life and governing.  In contrast, Rong’s novel exposes the hesitation to assimilate with this new ideology.  When watching television at her grandparent’s house, Babe expresses curiosity and agitation when her grandpa, Zhang Dingfan tells her that she cannot watch what she wants to watch.  “Why not this? The melody of youth.  Very nice” (183), Dingfan tells her when recommending a different show, a show from before Mao’s time.  He is trying to keep his granddaughter from being exposed to Mao’s new ideas.  Despite trying to shelter Babe from the media of that time, Dingfan himself finally gives in to the new ideology at the end of the story.  “When the time comes, I’ll make up words to suit whatever tune the authority picks” (194) says Dingfan.  By expressing this, Dingfan surrenders his support against integrating with Mao and his followers. 

                  

Pigeons At Daybreak Response

Anita Desai’s, Pigeons at Daybreak, exposes and unveils the pride that Desai has for her beloved and native country, India.  She opens the door and ushers in the reader to an alien world.  Desai virtually eliminates the 8,000+ miles that lie within a plethora of terrains and countries that separate the United States and India.  She shows her affection for her country, by allowing a reader to truly experience a fragment of the life of an Indian.  This permits the reader to recognize that despite the miles that lay between them and the differences in language, culture and beliefs, they are really no different from one another.  They both live, day to day with obstacles and circumstances over which they have no control.  Desai has taken a chisel to the barrier between people from opposite corners of the world that has been building because of the miles between them.  She ultimately shows that people more alike than they think and she displays this through her telling of the Basus.  This story is just one of a myriad of global narrations, whose purpose is to eliminate distances and reveal cultural similarities.  Authors of global narratives, relate their culture through a story that all people can relate to. 

Harkness Questions: The Collector of Treasures

1) Does anyone think that one reason why Dikeledi doesn't feel guilf after killing her husband, is because she grew up fatherless and thinks that she turned out well despite this.  Thus, she believes that her children are strong enough to grow up like this and not have it really effect them.

2) Besides for her freedom, what does Dikeledi sacrifice for her children? 

3) The story is titled The Collector of Treasures, what does Dikeldi consider treasures?

4) What could be a possible reason why Bessie Head decides to exclude Dikeledi's name in the first few pages when she is introduced as a murderer?

5) Do we think that it was Dikeldi's plan to kill Garesego and have her children cared for by Paul Thebolo and his family?

The Collector of Treasures Writing Response

In Bessie Head’s, The Collector of Treasures, it is interesting how the main character, Dikeledi Mokopi sacrifices a lot for the well being of her children despite all of the tragedy she has endured.  From the very beginning of her life she has been associated with sadness and death of her father, due to her name meaning tears. Several years after her birth, her mother also died, leaving her an orphan.  Though she moved in with her wealthy uncle, she was treated as a servant.  Her marriage to Garesego Mokopi was her escape from her uncle.  However, she did not escape a lot because Garesego was a cruel man.  Through their marriage Dikeledi had three sons, and eventually Garesego left, leaving Dikeledi to raise their children alone.  She was able to well care for her children.  When it came to be time for secondary school for her eldest son, Dikeledi was left no choice but to ask Garesego for money to help pay for tuition.  Her son had worked extremely hard and she felt that she owed it to him to do everything in her power to help him further expand his studies.  Asking Garesego was a big thing for her because she feels like a failure asking for money.  By approaching Garesego she basically openly admits that she is not capable of completely caring for her children and this forces her to show weakness.  She sacrifices her reputation of parenting by doing this.  By killing Garesego, she sacrifices her children’s mother.  Much like herself as a child, her children will grow up orphans and will be forced to live with someone else.   Though this time, they will be living with a person who cares for them and does not treat them as outsiders and servants.  She sacrifices her freedom for the well being of her children.  When in jail, she doesn’t show any regret for killing Garesego because though the short term effect on her children will be bad, in the long run, her children will have access to higher education, thus opening doors to many opportunities later in life, which Dikeledi herself, didn’t have the opportunity to have.  All in all, Dikeledi’s actions were all carefully planned out with her children as the main focus.