In his poem "The Answer," Chinese poet Bei Dao responds to the grim conditions that Chinese citizens-particularly artists-faced during the Cultural Revolution. A few thousand miles west, Polish poet Zbigniew Herbert uses the poem "The Envoy of Mr. Cogito" to reflect on life in Poland during the long years of repression under Soviet occupation. During the 20th century, in both Poland and China, post-totalitarian regimes suppressed free expression and held power in an iron fist. Political philosopher Václav Havel argues the power structure of post-totalitarian regimes is built upon an unstable foundation of lies and that in order to topple such a power structure, individual citizens must live within spheres of truth and reject the lies upon
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Bei Dao employs these paradoxical aphorisms to denounce and repudiate the absurdity of recent events during the Cultural Revolution. In the first line, "debasement" signifies the reduction of morals and contradicts "base," which is defined as the lowest part of a structure. Indeed, by the time "The Answer" was written-a decade into the Cultural Revolution-China had sunken to a moral low, having experienced widespread bloodshed which led to an environment of anger and helplessness. In particular, the line "Nobility the epitaph of the noble" further emphasizes the madness of the decade by discounting the moral consciousness in people, since nobles often have the reputation of oppressing those lower in rank. The proceeding lines, "See how the gilded sky is covered / With the drifting twisted shadows of the dead," depict the political and emotional atmosphere in China during the Cultural Revolution (3-4). "Gilded" represents falsehood, as the speaker recognizes that the gilded reality that the Communist Party conjures is based upon lies. Moreover, the "drifting shadows of the dead" reflect the speaker's bitter tone and stir resentment in the …show more content…
These lines remind the reader that the remnants of the Cultural Revolution are evident even after the movement has officially ceded, with "ice" representing the shadow that the Communist Party has cast over the people's minds. Drawing a connection to Havel's essay, the reader will note that "ice" represents automatism, as people surrender their right to free thought and expression. In the next two stanzas of "The Answer," the speaker asserts that his purpose in life is to "proclaim before judgement" that "I-do-not-believe! / If a thousand challengers lie beneath your feet, / Count me as number one thousand and one" (11-16). The aggravated tone in these lines portrays the fearlessness of the speaker and his willingness to challenge the power structure. In fact, the speaker ridicules the post-totalitarian system, indicating that he refuses to believe the reality that has been crafted by the Communist Party. The sentiments expressed in these stanzas reflect the speaker's inner thoughts: the speaker chooses not to believe the reality prescribed by the Party, thereby living in his sphere of truth and creating fissures in the foundation of lies upon which the Party's power structure is built. According to Havel's essay, a post-totalitarian regime's power structure is unstable because it is built upon a foundation of lies, so as soon as individuals-such as the
Bei Dao employs these paradoxical aphorisms to denounce and repudiate the absurdity of recent events during the Cultural Revolution. In the first line, "debasement" signifies the reduction of morals and contradicts "base," which is defined as the lowest part of a structure. Indeed, by the time "The Answer" was written-a decade into the Cultural Revolution-China had sunken to a moral low, having experienced widespread bloodshed which led to an environment of anger and helplessness. In particular, the line "Nobility the epitaph of the noble" further emphasizes the madness of the decade by discounting the moral consciousness in people, since nobles often have the reputation of oppressing those lower in rank. The proceeding lines, "See how the gilded sky is covered / With the drifting twisted shadows of the dead," depict the political and emotional atmosphere in China during the Cultural Revolution (3-4). "Gilded" represents falsehood, as the speaker recognizes that the gilded reality that the Communist Party conjures is based upon lies. Moreover, the "drifting shadows of the dead" reflect the speaker's bitter tone and stir resentment in the …show more content…
These lines remind the reader that the remnants of the Cultural Revolution are evident even after the movement has officially ceded, with "ice" representing the shadow that the Communist Party has cast over the people's minds. Drawing a connection to Havel's essay, the reader will note that "ice" represents automatism, as people surrender their right to free thought and expression. In the next two stanzas of "The Answer," the speaker asserts that his purpose in life is to "proclaim before judgement" that "I-do-not-believe! / If a thousand challengers lie beneath your feet, / Count me as number one thousand and one" (11-16). The aggravated tone in these lines portrays the fearlessness of the speaker and his willingness to challenge the power structure. In fact, the speaker ridicules the post-totalitarian system, indicating that he refuses to believe the reality that has been crafted by the Communist Party. The sentiments expressed in these stanzas reflect the speaker's inner thoughts: the speaker chooses not to believe the reality prescribed by the Party, thereby living in his sphere of truth and creating fissures in the foundation of lies upon which the Party's power structure is built. According to Havel's essay, a post-totalitarian regime's power structure is unstable because it is built upon a foundation of lies, so as soon as individuals-such as the