Food Division in Grass Soup

A detailed Summary of Food Division in Grass Soup

Zhang's attitude towards splitting up food rations at the reform camp suggests he has not been completely broken down and reformed by The Party. The significance of the dividing of foods illustrates his remaining integrity and emotions that the hunger has affected, but not removed.

"Unfortunately, no matter what group I was assigned to, the others always trusted me" (164). Being trusted usually is a positive sign of your character, but Zhang feels it is an unfair burden and responsibility that he would rather not have dealt with. The fact that the other convicts trusted him indicates the fact that he was a cerebral convict who had some integrity left. In this way Zhang is not as reformed as his fellow intellectuals because the other small workers are quick to criticize others, especially other intellectuals - a form of betrayal. Their betrayal displays the self centered attitude that makes others doubt that particular convict would be fair in the partition. Zhang is more unwilling to turn people in and overanalyze what others say so that he can seem better in the authorities' eyes. Only when he is asked specifically about Babylon does Zhang reveal something negative about him, yet even then

Zhang's emotions and character have obviously been adversely affected by the reform camp because of The Party's ability to wear out rightists and criminals by starvation and labour, but throughout the experiences that are shared in the book, he possesses some basic honor and humanity in his daily activities. Even through dividing up food, Zhang portrays a decent human being in the torment his life has become. He is not indicative of other intellectuals, but he is an example of the inner strength an individual can discover he has to survive.

The convicts in the camp do not seem completely void of emotions. "Seeing it, one could believe that these men, scraped clean of everything including freedom, could have made an aeroplane with their own bare hands" (165). The convicts proudly create works of art with their hands when fashioning tools used for measuring food. This burst of ingenuity is one of the few signs that the convicts have any emotion left. The lack of displays of affection for family members or loved ones exhibits the state of disrepair the sentiments of these convicts were in. They see their homes as sources of food, not as their source of humanity and love. The only way these men and women feel anything is if food is invo

Some common words found in the essay are:
Babylon Zhang, Soup Zhang's, division food, criminal convicts, food division, reform camp, divide food, partition food,

Approximate Word count = 841
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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Food Division in Grass Soup

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