Dance With Democracy

Yiyum Li’s Op-Ed contribution describes the life of students in China who did not protest on the bloody day of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Her argument relates to how awful the Chinese government is towards its citizens and how much it affects the citizens lives everyday. She bases her argument mainly on the events around the Tiananmen Square massacre. She uses many statements and literary devices to show the reader the truth around the massacre and how horrible the government was during and after the massacre. Yiyum also creates a deep understanding of how the government affects the citizens in their daily life and also how the citizens’ minds are brainwashed by the government. Yiyum shows there is no true citizen who lives his or her life in freedom. She states that, “One does not have to steal to feel like a thief” (Li 1). This statement shows a corrupt state of mind created by the communist Chinese government. I think her article is interesting because she reveals what life was like for the students who did not go to the square. I have not thought about the response by the Chinese government towards students after the massacre and this reveals the harshness brought down upon them. She feels guilty even though she was not even at the square. I think that she should not feel this way and her feelings are due to the corrupt ideas her government instilled in her. Li’s point of view is an interesting way of looking at the effects of the massacre at Tiananmen Square. This view is not very clear and only the few that have escaped the communist country can tell the true story of the events on and after this horrible tragedy.

Li uses many facts and imagery to show the reader how horrible the massacre was by including a statement about a fellow student which states, “he saw a boy shot in the chest, a young man crushed under a tank and a girl’s forehead pierced by a bullet” (Li 1). This shows the true carnage that occurred at the square. Yiyum also describes how people try to stay out of trouble with the government due to the fear of their government. The reader is able to see the effect within Yiyum in her social and private life when she states, “In reality, while we were waltzing in silent fear, my hands became cold in his, and even before the song ended I began to withdraw from his life. Until then I had been one of his closest friends” (Li 1). Her statement helps further enhance her argument of the horrible treatment of the communist government towards their people and creates a deep sense of remorse within Yiyum. She also uses imagery to describe the true fear the police create within students when they just want to ask questions to them. She states, “He looked upset, and as he spun me to a corner of the room, his hands felt feverish in mine. He told me that he had been summoned to the headmaster’s office where two policemen questioned him about his whereabouts on that night in June” (Li 1). Usually, police are suppose to create a since of security and peace in the people they are suppose to protect, obviously this is not the case for young Yiyum when she lived within a communist world during the Tiananmen Square massacre.