Yesennia Somoano
ENG101/ 0808
Prof. Caron K. Stengel
7/26/2016
Research Paper
Followers and Leaders
As twelve year old Marjane Satrapi inhaled the poisonous toxins from her first
cigarette, she choked on the loss of her childhood (117). The Iranian and Cultural
Revolutions caused most of their youth to follow suit. Young people in Iran and China
were forced to think like adults and make grownup decisions. While Marjane Satrapi and
Roya Hakakian chose to act out and rebel against the Islamic regime in Iran, the
Communist Party’s brainwashing techniques succeeded in turning bright young minds,
such as Anchee Min and Rae Yang into mindless revolutionary monsters.
For ten years China experienced a Cultural Revolution that brainwashed the minds of
young students who later became known as the Red Guards. Revolutionary Red Guards
were coerced into destroying China’s “four-olds” –old customs, habits, culture, and
thinking- and helped to put an end to bourgeois lifestyles (Current Events,2). Conversely,
I think that hyping up hormone fueled teenagers probably wasn’t the best idea. According
to an article in Current Events, historians estimate that over 700,000 people were
persecuted by Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution. Even Mao himself realized
that the Red Guards had gone too far by the year 1972. By that time he ordered the Red
Guards to disband (2). One can only imagine such young minds being corrupted beyond
control. However, it was the influence of Chairman Mao’s teachings that brought these
young minds to the brink of madness.
For Anchee Min, the Communist Party’s ideas were implanted in the defenseless
young girl’s mind since birth. She was raised on the teachings of Mao because there was
no other education available in school other than Mao’s ideas. The brainwashing started
Yesennia Somoano
ENG101/ 0808
Prof. Caron K. Stengel
7/26/2016
Research Paper
with the children. In school, Min became the “head of the class on the history of the
Communist Party of China” (25). She excelled in all of her classes because she was a
bright young mind. However, her achievements were limited to praises of being a good
activist.
For Chinese children, praise was awarded to those who complied with the Communist
Party and those who worshipped Chairman Mao. Those who did not fit the profile of a
Communist - i.e. children of bourgeois backgrounds such as landowners, doctors,
lawyers, etc. - were ostracized by their teachers and fellow classmates. Da Chen, son of
landlords, reminisces in his memoir “ Colors of the Mountain” about his hateful teacher
who “ despairingly called [him] ‘that person in the corner’ without looking at [him]” (5).
It would seem as though the Party set its efforts on breaking down the spirits of young
children. Of course children are the most vulnerable subjects. So I can assume that
Anchee Min felt that being part of the group was far better than being left out.
In Iran, political madness was astir. For over 450 years Iran has “long lurched between
the extremes of dictator ship and anarchy” (National Review, 402) that ended with the
fall of Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi. The year 1979 ushered in a new leader– Ayatollah
Ruhollah Khomeini- who rose from the depths of exile to become the new political hero
in Iran. However, he was no hero. Though there were many deaths under the rule of the
shah, the new Islamic republic didn’t seem to be much of a change. At first, it seemed as
though the people welcomed Khomeini by participating in free elections in his favor of
an Islamic Republic. However, there were many drawbacks including the U.S embargo
on oil and the Iran-Iraq war. These and other issues still plague the country of Iran today.
Yesennia Somoano
ENG101/ 0808
Prof. Caron K. Stengel
7/26/2016
Research Paper
For Jewish schoolgirl Roya Hakakian, the new Islamic Republic quickly turned
bittersweet. A new principal was assigned to her school dressed in a black chador-a veil
that completely covers a woman’s body from head to toe. This new principal’s purpose
was to convert her students into Muslims. Apparently the rise of Ayatollah Khomeini
meant the spread of the Muslim religion. By 1980 it became mandatory for all women
and young girls to wear the veil in public. Yet there were few who opposed their
opposition to the regime by letting a few strands of hair show through their veil (Satrapi
75).
With the onset of the Islamic Revolution, the Cultural Revolution Headquarters was
formed to reform the educational system in order to coincide with Islamic values (Sadri
4). With new power comes great responsibility. Ayatollah Khomeini and Mao Zedong
were men who needed to reform their countries. Both revolutionary leaders were
responsible for the re-education of their nations’ citizens. Former fifteen-year-old-turned30-year-old, Rae Yang was ripe for the picking.
Before the Cultural Revolution in China, students knew their place among their
professors. If a professor was cruel the students knew better than to defy their teacher
who had far more authority. Accordingly, the Cultural Revolution gave students like Rae
Yang the opportunity of a lifetime! They were finally free and able to oppose their
teachers and principles. The students put themselves in charge and organized into groups
in the guise of Red Guards. Rae Yang stated that “the Cultural Revolution exhilarated me
because suddenly I felt that I was allowed to think with my own head and say what was
on my mind” (374). For Rae Yang this was the most liberating experience…until things
got out of control.
Yesennia Somoano
ENG101/ 0808
Prof. Caron K. Stengel
7/26/2016
Research Paper
At first, dazibaos (criticism in big characters) began popping up all over universities,
schools, and even teachers’ homes. “This was of course not personal revenge. It was
answering [the brainwashing] Chairman Mao’s call to combat the revisionist educational
line” (Yang 375). Gradually Rae Yang began to see the horror of her authority. She
witnessed the brutal beating of teacher. She watched from afar as students hurled bricks
at the man while he crawled around in a muddy fountain (376). Being a Red Guard did
not protect her from humility. Rae Yang was stopped by Red Guards who threatened to
chop off her long bourgeois braids in the middle of the street. Her brother’s pet (pets
were considered bourgeois) was viciously flung against a brick wall by little boys. Rae
Yang soon discovered that perhaps the Cultural Revolution was going too far.
Little Mao activist Anchee Min came to same realization. When her school’s Party
secretary informed the thirteen year old with the news that they had uncovered a hidden
class enemy, an American spy, Anchee Min was delighted. She was especially
enthusiastic since she was chosen as the student representative allotted to speak against
the accused spy. However, that delightment quickly turned to confusion upon realization
that the class enemy was her teacher. Her teacher Autumn Leaves was a kind lady who
did nothing to Anchee Min but enlighten her with knowledge, love, and praise. There was
no way that this endearing woman could have been a spy. Nevertheless, the Cultural
Revolution was an era that turned friend into enemy, lover into fighter, and student
against teacher. The student against teacher betrayals became common practice in
Communist China under dictator Mao Zedong's leadership. As Anchee Min debated in
her mind whether she had the strength to denounce her teacher, she “felt scared, scared of
losing Secretary Chain’s trust, and scared of not being able to denounce Autumn Leaves”
Yesennia Somoano
ENG101/ 0808
Prof. Caron K. Stengel
7/26/2016
Research Paper
(37). This was a turning point for poor little Anchee Min whose mother was also a
teacher. After learning of how Anchee Min denounced her beloved teacher her parents
were astonished. Years after the Revolution Anchee Min begged for forgiveness and in
her conscience “heard the familiar hoarse voice say, I am very sorry, I don’t remember
you. I don’t think I ever had you as my student” (38).
In Iran, youngsters like Roya Hakakian and Marjane Satrapi had no problem going
against the Islamic regime. Unlike their counterparts who feared non-conformity, Satrapi
had done everything that was forbidden. She wore Nikes, a denim jacket, and a Michael
Jackson button. Non-conformist Marjane even put up a fight with the principle over a
bracelet. That fight got her expelled. Yet, at her next school she still could not conform.
Her religion teacher stated that “since the Islamic Republic was founded, we no longer
have political prisoners” (144). However, smart ass Marjane knew better. She corrected
her teacher by saying that “we’ve gone from 3000 prisoners under the Shah to 300,000
under [Islamic] regime” (144).
For Roya Hakakian, writing was a way of escaping society for a while. Therefore, one
can assume that she was an articulate girl. She proved just how smart she and her fellow
Jewish students were by opposing the Islamic regime and its efforts to convert these
young girls into Muslims. The girls “chanted, ‘Down with Moghadam!’ and took to the
schoolyard. No one led anyone. No one followed anyone. For most of 1978, kept from
school, [they] had studied the rebels on the streets. [They] knew the look and sound of a
revolution. And [they] were, at last, making [their] own” (168).
While China’s youth seemed to have been in a temporary daze- believing in Mao and
all of his teachings- I believe that they could have shown a little more opposition once
Yesennia Somoano
ENG101/ 0808
Prof. Caron K. Stengel
7/26/2016
Research Paper
they realized the horror that the Communist Party was instilling on the nation. Iranians
Roya Hakakian and Marjane Satrapi exhibited their defiance despite the horrific fate they
could have possibly encountered. Under the Islamic Republic, it is against the law to kill
a virgin. Therefore, before their execution, a guardian of the revolution would have to
marry the girl and take her virginity by any means necessary (145). Both revolutionary
countries were malicious. However, the two similar countries harbored two very different
generations of children. Some were followers like Rae Yang and Anchee Min. Yet, some
marched to beat of their own drums like Roya Hakakian and Marjane Satrapi.