FREE ESSAY ON GRASS SOUP AND FOOD DIVISION

GRASS SOUP AND FOOD DIVISION

Barbara Jones
Food Division
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 he withholds comments that would
have surely been used against Mr. I like to eat watery things. Convicts cannot trust
criminal convicts either because it is obvious they are not worthy of anyone's trust and
would partition the food completely unequally without fear of retribution. These convicts
have no rectitude and are already accustomed to no one trusting them. When it came to the
question of how to divide up food, criminal convicts were not given a say (166). Criminal
convicts cannot participate in the partitioning of food, because they would undoubtedly
cheat others out of their food. The division of food is much too important a
responsibility to be placed on a criminal. The fact that they can underhandedly attain
more food (i.e. - by stealing) also leads the intellectuals to believe that the people
who rely merely on the partitioned food would divide it honestly and equally. The fact
that Zhang steals food and still is trusted enough to divide the food is indicative of
his worthiness.
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
involved. The care with which they attend to the discussion and creation of measuring
tools indicates that their passion though not directed at amorous affairs or cozy homes,
is alive and channeled through their hunger into inventiveness in the division of food.
On the other hand, negative emotions are also reached when dealing with the partition of
food. I silently pick up the pile of cucumbers remaining on the ground, one by one, and
when I eat them the flavour is often mixed with my tears (161). One of the few times
Zhang shows any sign of outward emotion is in dealing with the division of the food. He
openly cries at the frustration he deals with in collecting his meager portion of food
that no one wanted. He does not cry at the death of convicts, or even at the last episode
in the book. He cries not thinking of his mother or the outside world. He cries at the
possibly smaller ration of food rejected by the other members of his group that he must
eat. He does not get the luxury of choosing what to eat because he divided the food. The
Party has cut off almost all his emotions using hunger, so that the only pain he feels is
related to food. The worst torture in the camp seems to be the rationing of sparse food
into smaller bits for other convicts.
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.
Bibliography
Grass Soup by Zhang Xianliang