Red Scarf Girl is fundamentally deconstructs the tenets of Communism. In the Prologue, Ji-li Jiang demonstrates her false equivalence was used to program her regarding the Communist ideology: “ I never doubted what I was told: ‘Heaven and earth are great, but greater still is the kindness of the Communist Party; father and mother are dear, but dearer still is Chairman Mao.” ‘Heaven and earth’ is exploited to persuade Jiang about the spirituality of the Communist Party. Although the party is not associated with Heaven and earth, their contrast is exploited to persuade adherents about the sanctity of their endorsement of the party. Equally, comparing Chairman Mao to one’s parents is a false comparison which makes the chairman superior to the parents. Once an individual is swayed about the Chairman’s dearness, he/she unconditionally ratifies the Chairman’s communist philosophy.
Moreover, the ‘red scarves’ are representative of deep-rooted communism: “We are Young Pioneers, successors of Communism. Our red scarves flutter on our chests.” This anthem surmises that donning the scarf is correspondent to broadcasting one’s confidence in communism.
Jiang’s childhood home portrays privilege which is not congruent with equality: “Our room was ten times as big as many of my classmates’ homes, and a hundred times brighter. Best of all, we had a private bathroom, a full-size room, with a sink, a toilet, and a tub. It was almost as large as some families’ entire homes. Many did not have a bathroom at all, or even a flush toilet, and very few had a full-size bathroom that they did not have to share with other families.” Manifestly, Jiang grows up in a more comfortable home relative to her peers. Her home accords her security and convenience which are not guaranteed for some of her classmates. If Communism were categorically flawless all households would live in analogous conditions.
For her part, Jiang’s mother endorses Communism through her planning depicts her devotion to tradition and Communist revolution: “Once Mom told me that she had her three children in three years because she wanted to finish her duty of having babies sooner, so she could devote herself wholeheartedly to the revolution.” Had Jiang’s mother spread out the time intervals for birthing, she would have found it burdensome to balance her motherhood accountabilities and revolution. Jiang’s mother has a conviction about the probable aftermaths of the revolution; hence, she incorporates it in her schedule alongside birthing. Such scheduling enables her to balance the fundamental undertakings which are valuable to her.
