China & the Cultural Revolution

• In China in the 1960s, the leader of the communist state felt that communism was being diluted by bourgeois elements.
• Mao Zedong initiated a violent cultural and social disruption that immensely changed the way millions lived.
• Mao eradicated literacy so that the only book available was 'The Little Red Book' Thoughts of Chairman Mao.
• Children of the bourgeoisie were taken away by the state and given to communists loyal to Mao, just like how Offred is torn from her daughter.
• In China, people were encouraged to betray those against the state, as Offred feels in Gilead that Nick may turn her in and how she feels she cannot trust others.
• Mao found that young people were the most likely to rebel against the state as when an appeal for those that believed in his ideas was launched, the young responded by forming the Red Guards, aligning with Gilead's view that the 'young ones are the most dangerous, the most fanatical'.
• Mao eradicated university life as intellectuals were singled out and ill-treated.