Wednesday, July 24, 2013
When I first saw the article Death of a Watermelon Seller from the New Yorker, my immediate thoughts were, "Wow, this is considered news? It's sad and all, but people die everyday. Is it that big of a deal?"
Apparently, yes.
The reason why is because this death is a reflection of the problems with the chengguan, the urban management group, in China. The circumstances surrounding Deng Jiazheng's death are suspicious. Although the government claims that he had a heart attack, many believe that he was killed in a violent scuffle in a rather gruesome way, simply for peddling watermelons without a governmental license.
On the article's rhetoric, it begins with a classic anecdotal opening that many are now familiar with. It leads the reader into the topic at hand by describing the settings and situations of Deng Jiazheng's death before exploring its impact, effects, and what it means. The writer also makes his viewpoint on the stance rather clear. For instance, take a look at this line: "the hand-wringing that occurs at the upper echelons of the Communist Party over incidents like Deng's death - not because someone has died, of course, but because such things come perilously close to threatening the Party's legitimacy." It is evident from the language he uses that he views the Chinese government as poor and disapproves of its actions towards its citizens.
Overall, it was an interesting article, and I personally feel terrible for Deng Jiazheng's wife and especially his children. I cannot imagine what pain they must be going through. They don't deserve for this to happen to them, to have a family member possibly murdered.
This article also made me consider what life in China must be like. China, of course, is Communist, and I really have no idea how different it is over there. I hope that China will figure out a better system like this for urban management, and happenings like this will not reoccur.
I admit, this article also seemed unique, and I have never heard about any topic this random. Upon reading the article, I realized the huge impact the watermelon seller's death has with respect to the government. Over all I though your commentary was well structured, moving from the structure to your input on the government injustice. You might want to also add effects and future consequences the death will have on the urban leaders in China. Overall well great blog!
ReplyDeleteI truly enjoyed your blog; however, it seemed like you had much more to say about the article's structure than about its content. I wish I had seen more of your opinion on the matter. What do you think of the chengguan system? Do you think its members are abusing their power? Does the fact that the chengguan system has no real framework justify the actions of its members?
ReplyDeleteYou did very well explicating the way the article was written, but your blog can be improved with more commentary on the actual occurrence. Otherwise, you did a great job! I love your choice of words and sentence structure! Keep it up :)