"To Live" part 2

The latest segment of "To Live" offered a stunning contrast to the relatively optimistic life seen earlier in the movie. The communist values of Mao were still seen in the backyard steel production, but there were events which negate Mao's drive for equality. When Youqiang was killed by the District Chief, the entire village was mourning over his death. However, at the funeral, when the District Chief came to apologize, Fugui told him to leave. The Cadre responds to this by mentioning that the Chief was hurt as well as and was sorry. Because the District Chief had more power than a normal citizen, he was treated with more respect, people worked harder to impress him, which defies an ideal Mao society of equality. Another interesting development was the marriage of Wan Erxi and Fengxia. Fugui seemed very happy to give his daughter to Erxi based on his Red Guard status before he even met the man. This shows the “equality” that existed where the high ranking communists were above the average citizen. Painting all the Mao pictures and propaganda was also interested, and how the marriage photo was taken with the family holding the Little Red Book. Mao may have ended up destroying all the progress made with the first five year plan, but the people still respected him highly, to the point of paying respects to his portrait after any activity.