The Joy Luck Club: The Day that Japan Attacked

Essay by canadiankidHigh School, 11th grade August 2004

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Living in the 1930's in China was not easy. Droughts occurred regularly; society was in constant struggle between the old Emperor system and the new Communist government. And just as everybody thought that things couldn't get worse. Japan declared war on China thus, initiating World War II. People lived under the relentless fear of Japanese threats, as China did not have a very strong or organized army at this time, which in its own way did lower the morale and unity of Chinese people, giving the Japanese nation a clear advantage over China.

During this period, farmers were the common people of society, as they were the only source of food for the overcrowded population. Mu-Hu Sun was one of these average income farmers, aged at 23 living with his parents, his wife, and his two kids in the small rural township of GuoMian, on the eastern seaport. The family had just run out of money and Mu-Hu needed to take his recent seasoned crops to the market in the big city for sale.

As he carried his three barrows of golden sweat towards the market on the muddy mountainous road, he came across a wealthy merchant who purchased his crops for 1Yuan (1 dollar coin), which at the time was considered to be quite a lot of money for the average family. Delighted with his good fortune, Mu-Hu hurried home to tell his family the good news.

Strangely though, as he reached his neighborhood, he could see that some of his neighbors' houses have caught on fire and that the sounds of gunshots roared in the background. Dead bodies were everywhere, and the crying of children beside those bodies made it as if the world was going to crack open any second and burst. Shocked by what he...