The Power of the Rooster
“We were surprised to see how the alarm clock seized the imagination of the peasants. It became an object of veneration, almost. Everyone game to consult the clock, as though our house on stilts were a temple” (13).
“The thought of the back-buckets awaiting us was so dispiriting that we couldn’t bring ourselves to get up [so Luo] slid the hands of the clock back by one hour...The sheer audacity of our trick did a lot to temper our resentment against [those who] were in charge of our re-education...In the end we changed the position of the hands so many times that we had no idea what the time really was” (15).
Luo’s alarm clock is a foreign object and a remnant of their bourgeois life. It represents the norms they used to live with and their past privileges, such as having precise time rather than judging the time of day by sunset and sunrise. The Cultural Revolution was intended to suppress those norms, and so this is the last piece of Luo’s urban life. But, because Luo has this object in his possession, it gives him an advantage over the people around him. The fact that Luo and the narrator have more intelligence makes them more cultured and informed than the people who live a simple life around them. Everyone in the village -- including the headman -- was fascinated by their unique possession from the city, and as the owners of it, Luo and the narrator could change the time to fit their wishes.
How tacky the alarm clock would look to someone in urban and modern civilization
Representation of the narrator and Luo’s old life
What the clock is like to the others
With the alarm clock, the boys have power over the time
I like that you also connected the alarm clock to the power of Luo and the narrator because they are from an urban place.
ReplyDeleteI liked your choice of pictures and that you included an explanation of each of them.
ReplyDeleteDo you think that having this clock was a way for the Narrator and Luo to cope with life they've forced into?
ReplyDeleteBoth the rooster clock and the book (which my group did) represent a fraction of the boys' old life. Both represent civilization and technology and a traditional education.
Do you think that the clock will continue to have this effect on the people after a long time or will they eventually get over it?
ReplyDeleteI like how you use different pictures to show different perspectives of the alarm clock during the Cultural Revolution.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI thought your two perspectives of how the different groups of people see the alarm clock was really cool and tied into the intellectual liberty it gives the main characters. It showed how just because it was new and interesting, the village people are really interested in it.
ReplyDeleteDo you think the village people are interested in its actual functionality, or just the fact it is a new and foreign object.
Do you think that the power Luo and the Narrator have over the village people due to the alarm clock relates to the goals of the Cultural Revolution (having equal power between peasants and upper class)?
ReplyDeleteYou do a really good job connecting intellectual liberty with having more culture.
I find it a little weird that the village headman doesn't buy his own alarm clock in Yong Jing or order one from elsewhere. I wonder why that is.
ReplyDeleteIf the clock represents the bourgeois life and the villagers instantly become attached to it, what does that say about the villagers and their Maoist ideology?
I think that the villagers fascination with the clock is indicative of the inherent pull humans have towards intellectual liberty. The clock represents defiance of Mao's ideas and the tenets of re-education the boys are supposed to be learning.
I like how you provide the two perspectives of the alarm clock through the photos. Do you think the alarm clock also says something about a sense of control for Luo and the narrator? I also see a connection to coming of age and being able to adapt to their surroundings.
ReplyDeleteIt is very interesting how you conected the power Luo and the narrator have over his comrades because they had the clock. It shows the tiniest of liberties and thing can be extremely impactfull and important
ReplyDelete