Tank Man Essay

The “Tank Man” photograph was taken on June 5, 1989. This mind-boggling photograph shows a man standing in front of a column of tanks. As the history recalls, this incident happened after the Chinese military had suppressed Tiananmen Square protests. When the tanks were rolling down the road, the man appeared fearless as he stepped out to temporarily stop the movement of tanks. This is most commonly seen as an act of defiance or mockery, but people are still not sure who exactly the man was, why he did this, and what happened later. A lot of things are unknown about this photo. In his article “5 Things You Should Know About the Tiananmen Square Massacre,” Noah mentions that “Twenty-five years ago, Chinese troops violently retook the square in Beijing where pro-democracy protesters had set up …show more content…
The Tiananmen Square massacre left an unknown number dead, with some estimates in the thousands, and smothered a democratic movement.” The Tiananmen Square protests were causing instability and chaos in Beijing, so the government had to take action. The Chinese government used force to suppress the riots, and they succeeded. However, while the tanks were rolling down to clear protesting areas, a man steps out in front of them. Tiananmen Square protests yell out on a loudspeaker to get out of the way, but the man didn’t. The tankers are thinking that this is another extremely tenacious dissident, so they attempt to move around him. The mysterious man didn’t give up. He yet again steps in front of the tanks. In his article “Tank Man: What happened to the man who stood in front of tanks in Tiananmen Square,” Mikey mentions that the column of tanks finally stops their engines and the man climbs atop of the lead tank to talk to the crew members. The conversation is not recorded. After, the man steps down from the tank and stands at the side. The tanks once again start up their engines, ready to move on, only to see the man leap in front