Quotes For Themes Flashcards
(70 cards)
Tietou as a victim (Para 1: he loses everyone)
“Daddy’s bad I’m going to kill him”
“And so Daddy left, Little Uncle left too, they both went to places far away. I only learned this many years later.”
“I want a happy old man”
“I want another big horse”
“I have to do labour in the countryside.”
“It’s just that Tietou misses his mother”
Crow song
Tietou as a victim (Para 2: he suffers at the hands of the Party)
Crow song
“His father may be in a labour reform, but he’s not a criminal” - Granny
“Daddy was dead. He died instantly. He didn’t even have time to cry out”
“Mum said she was doing it for me”
“If there is no food, what would you eat?” - Shujuan
“The magistrate is furious.”
“Why don’t you go to class anymore”
Tietou as a victim (Para 3: loss of innocence)
“Today we struggled with our principal”
“I spat at her as well”
“Down with Luwei”
The kite vs end
Shujuan as a victim (Para 1: she loses everyone close to her)
“We’ll miss him a lot”
“I have to do labour in the countryside”
Argument with Tietou
(When Shaolong dies)
Reading letter
Shujuan as a victim (Para 2: she can’t live the life she wants)
Red Qipao
can’t be a teacher
“You haven’t had much chance to be happy” - Granny
“Mum what makes you happy?”/“Being with you” - (Camera panning out, crow song
“Mum said she was doing it for me” - (Camera: car moving away = symbol of moving away from previous life)
Shujuan as a victim (Para 3: she struggles to raise a child)
“When can I ever stop worrying about you?”
“Such a difficult kid”
“We struggled with our principal today!”
Shaolong as a victim (Para 1: his relationship with Tietou)
“Daddy’s bad, I’m going to kill him.” - camera angle: over-head shot makes Shaolong seem vulnerable
Contrast with him flying the blue kite with Tietou
Shaolong as a victim (Para 2: sent to labour camp, betrayed by friend & dies)
“What’s all this about the rectification campaign?”
The Library scene
Horse head
Shaolong’s grace, camera pans out
Guodong as a victim (Para 1: betrays his friend)
Guodong as a victim (Para 2: psychological manipulation)
“I feel that I owe you and Tietou so much” - lighting is warmer
Lao Wu as a victim (Para 1: loses the stability of his job)
“There are a lot of posters already in my workplace criticising me…”
Lao Wu as a victim (Para 2: loses the safety of his home and is a direct victim of the Red Guards)
“What can I do? They’ll soon come to the house. And it’ll mean trouble for the both of you.”
“I didn’t think things would happen so quickly”
“Old comrade? He’s an old counter-revolutionary” - Red Guards
Lao Wu and Tietou’s relationship (Para 1: Tietou doesn’t like Lao Wu
- Shujuan standing between Lao Wu and Tietou
- “The maid is calling us for dinner”
- “What’s with you, young man? You don’t like me do you?”
Lao Wu and Tietou’s relationship (Para 2: plays a practical role)
- “This money is for you and Tietou. It’s not much, but it should get you through any hard times.”
- Tietou is wearing smarter clothes
- “He takes me to the zoo, and eat peppery lamb’s stomach too”
Mrs Lan as a victim (Para 1: A target of the Party due to social status)
- “Did you say I saw home?”
- “We confiscated them as a lesson to everyone”
- Red jewellery to blue workers
Shusheng as a victim (Para 1: he loses his eyesight)
- “It’s just that my field of vision is smaller than other people’s.”
- “Your mental state is important”
- Backlighting
- Taking family photo
- “They don’t value us as they should”
Zhuying as a victim (Para 1: she loses her job and can’t pursue her interests)
- “I can’t see how dancing serves any political purposes”
- “It’s a political duty”
Zhuying as a victim (Para 2: she is sent to prison)
- “Zhuying has frequently stirred up sentiments against the Party”
Zhuying and Shusheng relationship
- “I’ve heard you’ve got a boyfriend”
- “Politics must come first”
- “Shusheng we mustn’t see each other anymore, it would be bad for your future.”
Shuyan as a victim (Para 1: he can’t be can artist)
Shuyan was an art student and so was considered an intellectual.
His artwork is a symbolism and is evidence of him being an intellectual. This foreshadows him being later sent to a labour reform camp.
It shows how literature/freedom to learn and express will be banned (western culture).
Shujuan says Shuyan has always been fearless but he looks a little fearful when he sees that Tietou had torn the picture that he made.
Shuyan as a victim (Para 2: he’s rejected by society)
“Such extreme reacting rightist element deserve merciless criticism”
Shuyan as a victim (Para 3: relationship with older sister is bad)
- “Young people ought to concentrate on study and thought reform”– Big Sister to Shuyan
- “Ma, don’t be upset. It’s good for Shuyan” - Sister
Shuyan as a victim (Para 4: can’t marry his girlfriend)
“Yes the other had a bad background”
Older generation (e.g Local granny & the mum) as a victim (Para 1: they lose their family members)
- “Little Uncle left too. They both went to places far away”
- “Little Uncle left too. They both went to places far away”