Intellectually Luo

From 1966 to 1976, China was in the grip of the Cultural Revolution, a movement order by Chairman Mao Zedong to eliminate traditional forms of Chinese culture and fight off capitalism in order to promote communism. Crimes were harshly punished, teachers were forced to walk the streets in dunce hats while all the students were forced to go to re-education camps. The narrator and his best friend Luo were both sent to the base of Phoenix of the Sky mountain for their re-education in which their surroundings really force them to question their morals and set up the theme of the book.

In the remote village at the base of the mountain they are cut out from the rest of China. Communication is very limited which means information cannot be given or received, and what little …show more content…
On their arrival to the re-education camp they were going through life inexperienced with anger, affection or concern. Four-Eye’s book collection of the western world opened up these gates of emotion and changed their lives for ever. Luo had his first relationship and puts up with the trauma once it ends. While on the the other hand the narrator becomes more aware with his surroundings and learns from them too. This also expresses the other theme of maturity being critical in many situations

In conclusion the geographical and cultural surroundings of the narrator and Luo affect their beliefs and the overall underlying meaning of the piece as a whole. The culture on the base of the mountain required the existing human intelligence to do laborious tasks, and as a result the newfound knowledge was powerful setting up the theme of the book. This knowledge changed the the narrator, Luo and the little seamstresses lives forever. As the great statesman Kofi Annan said “Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every