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Red Azalea Summary

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Red Azalea follows the author, Anchee Min, throughout her life during the Chinese Cultural Revolution. As a child she was completely devoted to learning more about Mao and communism. After being required to leave her home to work at Red Fire Farm, she is forced to face many hardships and finds out a lot about herself and her country. Having to suppress her sexuality and emotions, and being forced to do work she doesn't want to do, Anchee’s beliefs begin to shift. This memoir is well written and allows readers to learn about personal lives and the country of China during its time as a communist state. The majority of the book takes place during Anchee’s life as a teen and throughout her early twenties. Born in 1957, Min was raised during the Chinese Cultural Revolution lead by communist Mao Zedong. She first began to realize major change taking place in her life at the age of ten. Anchee states, “In 1967...the police station was called a revisionist mechanism and had been shut down by the revolutionaries...Mother was pushed, crushed on the floor, and was slashed with scissors.” The time period of which she lives greatly influences her life and the rest of the story. Living under Mao’s rule, children, including herself, were often taught that having a revolutionary spirit was the only way to live. They were taught to harass those who did not adore Mao and support his leadership. Growing up in a communist state greatly affected her beliefs and the course of the rest of her

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