The Incriminating Letter, Sweeping, and the Epilogue

Ji-li's Uncle Tian and her mother wrote a letter to the Municipal Party Committee. The letter is in their home, and they plan on sending it anonymously. They find out that their house is suddenly being searched because their father is proven to be a landlord. Ji-li hides the letter in her cat's litter box, but the searchers find it. Her mother is forced to register as a landlord's wife, her grandmother has to register at the Neighborhood Dictatorship, and Ji-li is told there is no longer any hope of her being an educable child. At the end, Ji-li wonders if life is still worth living.

I thought the letter sounded like a bad idea in the first place, but was still scared for them whenever the house was searched. The Red Guards, and government in general took such drastic unneccessary measures. It was pretty ridiculous. You would think that the Red Guards, or anyone involved really would stop and think about how the Cultural Revolution was making everyone miserable. I do not see how a leader could think having a nation full of hostile bitter people would be a good idea, or even how they would not stop and change some things to boost morale.


Ji-li watches her grandmother sweep the street. Her mother asked her to make sure her brother and sister are safe if anything happens to them. Ji-li realizes family is the most important thing, not what other people thought about her or her beliefs. She realizes it was ridiculous of her to ever hate her family for the things that were in the past and they could not change. She also realizes that her life should not be defined by goals, but by her responsibilities and her promise to take care of her family.

I was happy that she finally realized all of these things. Her life was miserable, and so was her familys. There is no way they could have made in through those times without eachother's help and support.

In the Epilogue, I thought it was interesting to read about how they all loved and believed in Mao Zedong, until he was dead. It is terrible that it took their country so long to realize that all of the things they were being told were actually brain washing them. It is depressing that it took until it was all over for them to understand how corrupt everything was. I felt really bad when I read about the Revolution causing her to lose her childhood, but it was apparent in the throughout the novel also. I was glad to read that her family was allowed to be together again. It made me angry that the people who persecuted innocent people went unpunished after making so many lives miserable. If I went through the Cultural Revolution, I don't know if I would come out of it all still loving the country as Ji-li did. She must be a pretty strong person to have the ability to make it as far as she has after going through all of that.