The Village and Town Life by Leslie Changs - Book Report/Review Example

English 7th November Research Paper Leslie T. Chang was brought up in a town outside New York; she is a graduate of Harvard University major in American History and Literature. Leslie worked as a journalist in China, Czech Republic, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. While working in China, she was inspired by the women working in factories and wrote a book, ‘Factory Girl’. She is married to Peter Hessler and lives in Colorado U.S. (“Chinese Writers - Leslie Chang,” about.com). In her book, she actually splits it into half, with one part being called ‘The City’ and the other ‘The Village’.  The Factory Girl is a story based on a family history. She provides an overview of Chinese history of the twentieth Century. She narrates about the cultural revolution, the time her grandfather`s tomb gets messed up. This Cultural Revolution that took place between 1966 and 1976 was the Government’s attempt to wipe away the Chinese traditional culture. The book Factory Girl reflects the insights into China; as she tries to track lives, the book illustrates how rural migration has increased in search of better lives and transforming Chinese society. Chang highlights the lives of immigrants where the majority of them are below thirty. In her book, she reveals the poverty and idleness in the rural areas which caused many young girls to depart their homes. Chang also discloses her own story of how her family migrated from China to the West. Chang’s book is based on two women named Min and Chunming; they both worked in the urban areas. These women shared a lot in common: for example, diary entries, text messages, romantic affairs, and the families they left behind. Min, a village girl aged 16 years, got her first job in 2003. The legal age of working people is 18 years of age. Min could find herself working for 13 hours a day, with a pay of $50 to $100 a month (Eberlein 13). She worked in harsh conditions, talking while working was forbidden, and she was fined. To use the bathroom she was required to sign. In case of sickness and pregnancy, no one was catered for. The Government had no protection laws for workers; their work was to bring more income, investment and tax revenue. These young women got married at an early age, got children, and left them in the care of their parents or husbands as they went back to the urban areas to work (Eberlein 14). Chunming left her home in 1992, when she was only 17 years old, with the hope of gaining wealth, self-discovery and new experiences. When she got to the city, she got a job in a factory that made paint for toys. Even after several warnings about her departure from home and lack of jobs, she got a job that kept her for years. She learned quickly and adopted new ideas and changes, she got promoted from one rank to another, and she slowly erased the village life and adapted to the city life (Chang, scribd.com). Many of these young people migrated to other countries because China was at its extreme, and Chang suggested that it was corrupted, chaotic, and had people who were unashamed of their careers. The immigrants from the rural could double or triple their earnings in a number of weeks, and they had to take computer classes or learn English. To them, switching jobs became a way of one’s reinvention, and starting a business was so easy. With the emerging job opportunities, it was hard to maintain friendship, and Chang stated how lonely and isolated the migrant workers were (Chang, scribd.com). In Chang’s story, she explains how hard it was to track the women who worked in factories. However, she came up with a method with the help of a cell phone that she would purchase and give to the women. She was able to explore the degree to which Chinese factory girls were exploited: these girls worked during exhausting hours, had poor pay and no job security. In her story, Chang elaborates her family’s history in relation to the women in Chinese factories; her family fled China after the Second World War and the Maoist revolution. Her family later moved to the United States, and Chang’s father never talked about their family history. Chang’s family history began during the post-world war; her great grandfather was in the army until 1960 when he became mentally ill. During her stay in China, Chang discovered the truth about her family’s history (Chang, scribd.com). In Factory Girls, she portrays how her family rose to prominence during the economic boom; her grandfather’s tomb was vandalized. Students were sent to rural areas to be re-educated with the hopes of spreading revolution and new technology. The endless resentments and injustices that were aggravated among her relatives and the Government’s suppression are clearly highlighted. She explained that she left China to discover her own history and path; she discovered that after moving to the city, and these changes affected her discovery. The problems faced by the factory girls were not just their problems, but they reminded her of her own past (Chang, scribd.com). Chang’s family history reflects the old China, the severe injustices and intractabilitys. This novel was divided into two parts the ‘village’ and ‘town’. It shows how lives are different in the rural and urban areas. The people in rural areas had fewer opportunities, poor working conditions and less compensation for the work done; they worked for more hours unlike the people in the urban areas who had more opportunities, better pay, and better working conditions. Due to this imbalance, most young people moved from the rural areas to urban areas. Due to this migration, the people were able to feed their families. In her story, Leslie T. Chang’s family faced a similar situation when they were living in China (Chang, scribd.com). The migration helped Chang’s family to better their lives and not to live on poor conditions. Chang uses stories of the two women to give a clear picture of how the interaction between the two groups of people, the young in the city who were more jovial compared to the young in the rural areas who were polite but shy. In the village no one was alone, but in the city people were taught independence, and no family obligations were needed. In the village the women washed their clothes in the streams near the mountains. In the village the dead were buried and had to pay a fine, but in the city the government promoted the cremation of bodies (Chang, scribd.com). Chang found life in the village quite different from life in the city. In the city more accidents occurred because of lack of training: some chopped off their fingers, others slipped and fell on floors in the factories. Working faster during busy days meant more pay and spending all time training meant no pay. Min explained to Chang that every factory has its difficulty that may not be seen; they only worked in the factory to save money and get experience. Thousands and thousands of Chinese students migrated to the United States to get the western education because they thought this education would boost China (Chang, scribd.com). Life in America differed from life in China; in America students could change their careers without their parents’ approval, but in China the fathers’ orders were law: the father would discipline the children severely. For example, Chang’s grandfather wanted her father to stay at home and look after the estate, but he refused. If the traditional system of learning was intact, her grandfather would have obtained the highest degree and got a job with the Government, but the new learning system was taking him to unexpected directions (Chang, scribd.com). In conclusion, Leslie T. Chang differentiates the two different lives, the ‘village’ and ‘town’ life. She explains how each differed from the other. People in the village had fewer opportunities, no money and young people got married at a young age. In town people had more opportunities, better pay, better working conditions and experience. She also relates the story to her own. Chang’s family decided to go back to China, and this is where she discovered her past. In China she meets two factory girls, Min and Chunming. These girls had a lot to share with Chang, and her experience in China brought Factory Girls to light. This book highlights the conditions and mentality in which the village forks live. She explored why the Chinese people migrated to urban areas and their experiences in the village and town. Works Cited Chang, Leslie T. “Factory Girl: From Village to Town in Changing China.” scribd.com, 2012. Web. 8 Nov. 2012. “Chinese Writers - Leslie Chang.” about.com, 2012. Web. 7 Nov. 2012. Eberlein, Xujun. "Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China." Womens Review of Books 26.5 (2009): 13-15. Print. Keefe, Patrick Radden. “Holding up the Sky.” New York times. New York times, 7 Nov. 2008. Web. 8 Nov. 2012. Read More