Ji-Li's Character Change in Red Scarf Girl Essay Example

“I looked for my things. The wing of the butterfly had been completely knocked off the body. The bottle holding the glass beads had smashed, and beads were rolling all over the floor. The trampled candy wrappers looked like trash. And the stamp album was gone forever.” 

In her memoir, Jiang Ji-li talks about her life as a twelve year old girl during the Cultural Revolution in China. There are many tough challenges that she has to face, including life-changing obstacles, like having to choose between her beloved family and the Chinese Government. It may not seem like a hard decision to you, but if Ji-li chooses her family, she’ll be seen as an outcast and be treated horribly for the rest of her life in China. Ji-li describes every one of her life changing events in her memoir; Red Scarf Girl. At first, Ji-li was happy, confident and excelled in everything she did, but as she faces the challenges of the Cultural Revolution, she becomes much less confident and loses the pride she once had in herself and in her family.

One situation that changed Ji-li was when she witnessed a man being both verbally and physically attacked for wearing four olds. Ji-li watches as the poor, helpless man is attacked for his choice of clothing.  “He stood on the sidewalk, awkward and humiliated, trouser legs flapping around his ankles, socks falling down. A tuft of hair hung over his forehead. He looked at his pants, pushed up his glasses nervously, and quickly glanced around. Our eyes met. Immediately he turned away.” (Destroy the Four Olds!, 66). Ji-li begins to notice how severe the Red Guards act and it makes her feel bad for the man. She knows that what the Cultural Revolution just did is wrong. But she won’t admit or show what she thinks quite yet. Ji-li comes to a realization that the Revolution is villainous and that she shouldn’t be following such a horrible thing. However, she stops to remind herself that she was raised to support Chairman Mao and his Revolution and that’s what she must do for herself, her family, and the Chinese Government. Even with this reminder, the man with the four olds remains in Ji-li’s mind as a reminder of how unfair the Revolution is, and that it may personally affect her soon.

Another moment when Ji-li is changed by having to face a difficult situation is when she discovers that a classmate has written a Da-Zi-Bao- a poster meant to criticize someone who was against the Revolution- about her. Ji-li’s best friend, An Yi, tells her about the Da-Zi-Bao she found written about Ji-li and she takes Ji-li to see it for herself. “We hurried off to the school playground, where the newest da-zi-bao were posted, and searched frantically. “There it is!” Suddenly I caught sight of it. The large red characters were like blood on the poster. “Let’s Look at the Relationship Between Ke Cheng-li and His Favorite Student, Jiang Ji-li.” I suddenly felt dizzy. Relationship? Me? A relationship with a male teacher? The whole world faded before my eyes. The only things I could see were the name Jiang Ji-li and the word relationship. A shaft of evening sunlight flashed on my name. The characters danced before my eyes, growing larger and redder, almost swallowing me up.”  (Writing Da-Zi-Bao, 44). This situation not only makes Ji-li extremely uncomfortable and embarrassed, but it also makes her want to stop supporting the Revolution because of her own discomfort. Ji-li originally thought that Da-Zi-Bao were only written about those who stood strongly against the Revolution, like teachers. Therefore she was confused why she was the victim of a Da-Zi-Bao. What made her even more upset was that a classmate of hers had to have written it, and she thought all her classmates liked her, so this made her feel insecure. Ji-li’s situation with the Revolution is about to get incredibly personal.

One last moment when Ji-li changes is when the Red Guards search her home for the first time. Ji-li stood in her ransacked room and looked at her now destroyed belongings. “I looked for my things. The wing of the butterfly had been completely knocked off the body. The bottle holding the glass beads had smashed, and beads were rolling all over the floor. The trampled candy wrappers looked like trash. And the stamp album was gone forever.”  (A Search in Passing, 120). Ji-li has just lost several belongings that were very important and special to her. This moment creates anger, sadness, and above all, a stronger disregard for the Cultural Revolution. Imagine having your house searched by people- the kind you were always taught to obey, and now they’ve just completely betrayed you and you’re not even sure why. 

Over the course of Ji-li’s middle school and early high school years, she faces many difficult challenges that ultimately change her as a person.  Ji-li was happy, confident and she even excelled in everything she did, but as she faced the severe obstacles of the Cultural Revolution, she became much less confident and she lost the pride she once had in herself and in her family. She faced being the victim of Da-Zi-Bao, having her things taken and destroyed, and even having to watch others suffer the hardships of the Cultural Revolution. But because Ji-li had to endure these horrible situations, it ended up changing her from the better. She used to be a naive, carefree little girl, but she ended up being a respectful, careful, and kind young woman. Most of all, Ji-li learned to ignore her class status and the harsh way of the revolution. Doing that made her realize how important and special her family is, and she ended up valuing them more than she ever did before.