The Evil of Communism
Even a cursory skim through the book tells the reader that Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution and the Communist government he formed after it brought nothing but evil to China. Mao had no interest in presiding over a democracy, and no interest in governing free-thinking people. In order for Communism to thrive and succeed all elements of freedom, including free thought, have to be taken away from the people immediately. It is apparent in the book that the most important tool that was used by the regime was brainwashing.
Surprisingly, Ji-Li did not realize the evil of Mao until she was older. Despite the fact that her family were vilified, their home ransacked and belongings stolen; despite the fact that her father was arrested and imprisoned when he had done nothing wrong; despite that fact that beloved teachers who had won awards for excellence in education were now hated and arrested, Ji-Li still felt some kind of hero worship for China's revolutionary dictator. This shows how Communism worked in China; by taking away all information other than that which praises the Revolution, there are no other thoughts available to each of its people.
The book also shows the evil of militarizing the police force so that they become a more dangerous criminal faction that those who would traditionally have been thought to be criminals. The Red Guard routinely beat people us in their homes, stole possessions and arrested the innocent. Educating people was now a crime. Free thought was now a crime. Offenses such as leaving the Communist party in the past, reading pre-revolutionary literature of succeeding in any way whatsoever became crimes, and the punishment was given swiftly without due process. Despite the fact that the author has been brainwashed into seeing only positives about Mao and his government the story that she tells shows that this is not the case at all.
Family
The importance of family is one of the key themes in the book. When Ji-Li describes life before the revolution it is clear that her family are loving and close-knit. Her father is a big bear of a man who adores his children and leads by example. Her mother is a generous and loving woman given to bringing home little gifts for the kids every day, and also given to building them a framework for their dreams. They also have an extended family who are equally important, and Ji-Li's grandmother lives with them also.
After the revolution, family loyalty becomes even more important and Ji-Li ultimately chooses loyalty to her family over loyalty to the New Government. She sees that good people are being punished when they have done nothing bad, but when her own father is arrested she refuses to give evidence against him even though she knows that she will suffer because of this refusal. She is just not prepared to lie about her father and get him in trouble when she knows him to be such a good man. The family remains a tightly knit unit, building a new life in America together after escape from China. The importance of this loyalty is once again emphasized as it plays a huge role in their ability to build a strong and positive life in their new free country.
Class System
The book shows a class hierarchy that is opposite to that of most countries. In most countries, one wants to be thought as classy as possible, and it is acceptable to aspire to crossing the class barrier and moving up in the world, society-wise. In China during the Cultural Revolution it pays to be as working class as possible, because to be considered upper class was to be considered an enemy. An example of this is Ji-Li's grandfather, who was a landlord, and therefore relatively wealthy. Under the New Government this wealth classified him as someone who exploited others for his own gains. Of course, at that time, in China, the higher social class one was, the better educated they were likely to be, and since educated people are harder to brainwash, this is also why the class system began to become reversed; Mao had to do away with the educated, because they were more difficult to rule.
