“We were surprised to see how the alarm clock seized the imagination of the peasants. It became an object of veneration, almost. Everyone came to consult the clock, as though our house on stilts were a temple. Every morning saw the same ritual; the village headman would pace… keeping a watchful eye on the clock” (14).
“Luo had a brainstorm: with his little finger he slid the hands of the clock back by one hour. We got back into bed to enjoy our lie-in, which was all the sweeter knowing that the village headman was pacing to and fro outside, puffing on his long bamboo pipe” (15).
Sijie uses the symbol of a simple alarm clock to demonstrate how the cultural revolution's ideals are fundamentally backwards and how intellectual liberty unlocks power over others. The alarm clock is one of the few things the boys manage to smuggle into the village during their reeducation. Having been stripped of all their possessions, the only thing that separates them from the villagers is their intellectual liberty, and the clock is the manifestation of this fundamental difference. However, contrary to what we would expect of revolutionary peasants, the villagers quickly become obsessed with the clock and abandon their prior bucolic ways. Their worship of Chairman Mao has subjugated their intellectual liberty to group-think, but their infatuation with a western object coexisting with the revolutionary ideology embedded in their mind showcases the innate disposition humans have towards technological progress and free thought. Even when facing a government insistent on stripping them of their intellectual liberty, the small alarm clock and the pull of progress breaks through. The alarm clock also relates to the headman and his power over the village. With the alarm clock, Luo and the narrator have more control over the village and parts of their re-education. When they first arrived, the headman questioned them and showed off his power over them. He threw away most of their objects that related to western culture, but left the alarm clock. The boy’s mastery of the alarm clock contrasted with the headman’s ignorance allows them to have power over their difficult situation and allows them to have just a sliver of power over their constricted lives.
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You did a nice job of connecting the points and demonstrating your understanding of the quotes.
ReplyDeleteI like how you connect intellectual liberty to power using the example of a simple alarm clock.
ReplyDeleteDo you think that the alarm clock could represent hope to the boys given that it serves as a reminder of the education and life they had before they were moved to the village?
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think the village headman let the boys keep the clock and did not confiscate it for himself?
ReplyDeleteI also think the alarm clock might connect to jealousy since the village headman is jealous of Luo's ownership of the clock.
This could also relate to loss in the sense that losing the intellectual liberty they had before the Revolution makes them more eager to replicate that privilege.
ReplyDeleteWould anything be different if the alarm clock had been confiscated?
I like how you explain how directly the cultural revolution affects something as simple yet so complex. I like how you show its power.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you explained the meaning of the cultural revolution in the analysis. That demonstrated the intellectual liberty in the quotes and low it was limited.
ReplyDelete