Communism In The Yellow Earth

The promise of the CCP is a driving force in both films as a for both female leads to search for a better life. Two Stage Sisters shows a more propaganda version of the CCP where Chunhua’s life was drastically improved after she joined their troupe. In contrast, Yellow Earth alludes to some flaws that the CCP might

At the end of the 1940’s and the beginning of the 1950’s, the United States were in the midst of the Second Red Scare and a fear that Communism might over throw the American way of life. Cold War tensions were at an all time high, which only fueled the widespread fears of Communist subversion. It was here that Senator Joseph McCarthy became a public face when he began making claims that the U.S. Government, as well as many other areas of the country, including the entertainment industry, had been invaded by Soviet and Communist spies, looking to destroy America from within. Hearings before the House Un-American Activities Committee, Hollywood Blacklisting, and anti-communist activity from the FBI soon followed. McCarthy was under intense analysis

After it was conceived from the mind of Karl Marx, a Communist form of government

Communism is a “Political theory advocating class war and leading to a society which all property is publicly owned and each person works and paid according to their abilities” After world war 2 communism took over Czechoslovakia and people flocked to join the party. Not everyone was convinced that the party was what the country needed for them to gain peace. The party had lots of propaganda and were in control of peoples live therefore convincing people to join the party even if reluctant. In Under a Cruel Star, Kovaly recounts her time after the war and joining the communist party and then being shunned when her husband was convicted of a crime. She talks about how people put blind faith in a party that didn't have much scientific evidence to back up their claims. Kovaly said the most people went to the communist party because when coming back from the concentration camp they wanted to be in control of property again and they stayed because they felt helpless without the party providing services. They went from one type of totalitarian government to another kind of government that controlled everything they did. People of the time didn't realize that communism didn't benefit people who weren't in an elite class.

“Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind.” John F. Kennedy, September 25, 1961

Our federal government involvement with communism during the mid-1950s is what made the Communist threat such a big concern or obsession for the general public. Between the 1940s and 1950s, almost every government agency was on a crusade against Communists. Although the name for this phenomenon was taken from Senator McCarthy, McCarthy wasn’t the one that held the most influence in the development of McCarthyism. It was the executive branch of the government. This branch brought up concerns about national security and built the foundation for the anti-Communist campaign to operate on. The main reason for this was to gain support for the Cold War and obtain bipartisan backing for foreign policy. Truman and his administration were worried that

After World War 1, the world was left displaced with different types of governments. Communism arose as one of the prominent governments in the world, causing a big conflict. At that time, Catholics stepped up in the attempt to end Communism. One person who played a main role in leading the Catholics against Communism was Bishop Sheen. Sheen writes, “Sheen advocated a militant stand by the Church along with a militant spirit of democracy, confident that the Church's position would be vindicated, and that good would triumph over evil”. (An American Catholic Response to the Twentieth Century Pg. 67). Fulton wrote many books, bringing the church together to go against Communism. The Paschal Mystery that Fulton wrote about was the ending of Communism

During the 1950’s, there was a great sense of political pride. Each country felt that their own way of running their countries was better than the practices used in other countries and because of this they did not want to see another country’s influences in their homeland. In this era, American democracy and Russian communism were at odds. America runs on democracy which allows the people to exercise their “freedom” (Anti Communist Propaganda). In the American society, communism is a system of international control and conformity and the act of the government taking complete control over the citizens’ freedom and property (Eisenhower).

The United State’s was not subtle in their distain for communism and the Soviet Union; they fanned the ideological flames between capitalism and communism rather than putting them out. Directly after the war the US created the Marshall Plan, where they gave $13 billion to European states. In President Truman’s speech ‘The Truman Doctrine’ he talks about Greece and Turkey and threatens if aid is not given, Greece’s democracy will be under threat by armed men supported by communists. This was a strategic ploy to prevent communism, by allowing capitalism to flourish. Full-employment leaves people happy, and accepting of capitalism and less likely to turn to radical communism. However the Soviet Union was not impressed with this because they believed that capitalism was the root of fascism, and their allied states declined the funding.

The show also didn’t show the political tension of the decade. One of the if not the biggest political tension of this time was McCarthyism. This was what really sent off the red scare. In 1950 Senator McCarthy gave a speech where he said he knew 205 communist who worked for the Department of State. He reported 81 cases the day of his speech and skipped many numbers and repeated the same flimsy evidence. The Senate called for a full investigation and many peoples lives was ruined due to all the false accusations. All of this lasted until 1954 when McCarthy attacked the military with his claims and the military questioned McCarthy's methods and credibility. Then poll after poll the citizens turned on McCarthy, then McCarthy’s colleagues censured

For example, in Gilman's cultural era the color yellow symbolized "inferiority, strangeness, cowardice, ugliness, and backwardness" often applied "not only to the Chinese, Japanese, the light- skinned African- Americans but also to the Jews. "(Haney-Peritz 120) The color yellow was used to label many "inferior" races, and is used here to show that women were treated inferior as well. As the story progress, the color seems to pervade into the narrator's life. " I find it hovering in the dining room, skulking in the parlor, hiding in the hall, lying in wait for me on the stairs.

were not something that people disliked. The jobs they had to do were fair jobs and they made fair money. Women also worked during this time. Everyone held their own weight in a communism society. Women working brought in two sets of incomes into the household. This also made life a little easier. In order to have citizens obtain luxury goods, Gerhard described how he tried to obtain a car, “This coming March I could buy a car, if I had the money. Ten years ago I put my name in, and now I’ve learned that I can buy a Mazda 323. But it costs 25,000 Marks, which I just don’t have.” Here it shows how a simple luxury good that is so easily obtainable in America. The types of markets in East Germany were restrictive and extremely hard

Marx understanding of society shift into modernism lead to develop a form of communism that would come to be known as Marxism, communism is the economic thought of Marxism. Marx understands that Modernism calls for society to embrace equality for the betterment of society. Part of the problem with Capitalism comes from its exploitation of the working class; Marx understands this problem to be a vein of Pre-modernism and not a pillar of Modernism. Marx calls for the working class to rise up over their bourgeoisie oppressors and seize the equality that rightfully belongs to them. “Society as a whole is more and more splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two great classes directly facing each other – bourgeoisie and proletariat. (Communist pg. 9)” If society wants to embrace modernism, then society needs to shift its focus from fighting each other and one exploiting another to a classless society. Marx highly criticizes the bourgeoisie in The Communist Manifesto, and this stems from the problems they created for themselves and for the rest of society. In their attempt to gain more power, land, and resources, their material conditions, upon the prominence which their families had been formed, were dissipating due to the lack of foresight and selfish greed. If the Bourgeoisie continues to exploit the proletariat then society will head to conflict, as is expected of Pre-modernism, but if the Bourgeoisie cease its exploitation and relinquish its power for the group,

The Good Earth is set in early 20th century rural China, where the Earth is a significant part of life. To Wang Lung, the protagonist of the novel, his wife, O-lan, is also a very important part of his life. O-lan, like most women in the country, works diligently to prepare the meals and clean the house. Additionally, she works out in the hot fields with Wang Lung every day. When first married, Wang Lung and O-lan struggled to provide for their family. However, in time, the family begins to prosper; O-lan and the land both help propel the Wang family into a life of security and affluence. This is only one of the ways that O-lan and the Earth are alike, there are many others. In this novel by Pearl Buck, O-lan symbolizes the earth.

Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou’s Yellow Earth is a meaningful and controversial film that highlights the young and old, realist and idealist, as well as the ideal utopia and bounded bureaucracies – touching on the notion of fate. Set in early 1939 in China, Yellow Earth follows the story of Gu Qing, a Chinese Communist Party (CCP) soldier sent out among the peasants in Northern Shaanxi to collect folksongs, to which the Communists intend to rewrite new lyrics to help inspire soldiers and peasant followers to fight the Japanese invasion and work towards the revolution. Gu Qing comes across a village holding a wedding procession and is