Thesis Statement: Sijie uses the symbols of “jade dumplings” and the “suitcase” to illustrate how there was almost no intellectual liberty in the time of the Cultural Revolution, downgrading intellectuals to peasants, who in contrast, lived a very simple lifestyle completely unaffected by the Revolution. The peasants lived in a life of poverty, which is exemplified by the miller’s love of jade dumplings, or rocks in saltwater. The burgoise class had their intellectual liberty seriously restricted by the Cultural Revolution and most of the bergoise class was desperate to maintain their intellectual liberty, which is evident in the boys’ desperation to hide and obtain the suitcase and its contents.
Pg 72 - Jade dumplings
“He took his chopsticks, picked up a pebble from the dish and slowly dipped it in the sauce as if perfoming a ritual. Then he raised the pebble to his lips and sucked it with relish” (72).
“‘Pebbles!... He dips them in salty water, puts them in his mouth, rolls them around and spits them out again. He says the dish is called ‘jade dumplings with miller sauce’” (64).
This represents how intellectual liberty, or lack therof, can be interpreted differently based on one’s social class. This showed how simple the Old Miller’s lifestyle was. He thinks it is a speciality to offer his infamous “jade dumplings” to guests. He is virtually unaffected by the Cultural Revolution. The lives of those living in the cities is very different from the peasants in the village. Luo and the narrator are disgusted at the fact of sucking a “pebble” which was “dipped in the sauce”. However, the boys realize that they have to respect the Old Miller’s ways, thus joining him in his special meal. Their reactions were quick and well thought out, being polite to the Old Miller’s offer of jade dumplings, showing how they were growing up. Also, they are shown the real world outside of the cities. They are shockingly shown the poverty that most peasants live in, and realize just how different the two worlds are.
Pg 49 - suitcase
“‘I expect they’re books,’ he said. ‘The way you keep your suitcase locked up and hidden away is enough to betray your secret: you’ve got a stash of forbidden books’”(49).
“Inside, piles of books shone in the light of our torch: a company of great Western writers welcomed us with open arms” (99).
This quote showed how there was limited intellectual liberty. Four Eyes was acting as a symbol of the cultural revolution, changing authentic mountain songs to become pro-revolutionary poems and hiding “forbidden books” in a suitcase. The government burned books that contradicted Mao’s beliefs. Books are a great collection of perspectives and information. By confiscating them, people are not open to new ideas and become close-minded. Without any books to read, excluding the ones Mao wrote himself, people have no freedom of expression and are made to obey Mao’s ways, whether they agree with them or not. The fact that Four Eyes was keeping banned books in his suitcase illustrates how intellectual liberty was “locked up” during the Cultural Revolution and educated people tried to sneak bourgeois items, representing their knowledge, into their relocated settlement.
