For our symbol, we chose the buffalo as the symbol that represents the victims of the revolution.
Four Eyes drinking the buffalo's blood represents how Mao does not lose his hold over the victims over the Cultural Revolution.
“The buffalo was still alive. I will never forget how affected I was by its long drawn-out, plaintive bellows. Under normal circumstances, the bellow of a buffalo is disagreeably harsh, but on this calm late summer’s day the sound echoing through the rocky mountains was imposing and sonorous, like the roaring of a lion in a cage” (93).
“‘They’re waiting for the blood to congeal,’ he replied. ‘It’s a remedy against cowardice. To gain courage, you must swallow it when it's still lukewarm and frothy’” (94).
This situation a metaphor for how the communist system is abused. Preventing cowardice is not what we think it means. It’s not about being brave and doing what’s right in this situation. Drinking blood is a dirty thing, but Four-Eyes does it anyways in order to keep control and appear brave to the people. He’s using the buffalo as an example, in the way Mao uses intellectuals as an example for other people to not go against him.
The buffalo is used to represent China during the reign of Mao. When Four-Eyes had been working in a paddy field, the buffalo that he had used swung his tail and knocked Four-Eyes’s glasses off of his face, which enrages him. Later, when Four-Eyes gets a job in the city and is going to leave the re-education program, his mother has the village slaughter a buffalo. The buffalo chosen is the one that had hit Four-Eyes. Here, Four-Eyes represents the Chinese government during the Cultural Revolution, while the buffalo represents the oppressed citizens of China. First, killing animals in such a manner is illegal, yet it is done anyway on Four-Eyes’ behalf, as he is somehow the exception to the rule. This is exactly what Mao did: he created rules for the people of China but didn’t follow them himself. He killed the spirit and freedom of past culture, essentially killing the people. Further, the buffalo is chosen because Four-Eyes felt attacked by it. In killing the buffalo, they make it look like an accident, which causes the buffalo to feel immense suffering. After the buffalo has died, Four-Eyes drinks its blood as a way of proving his courage. This is symbolic of Mao defeating his enemies cruelly and using them as a pedestal to raise his image in front of the people—a method of maintaining power and control; however, the narrator also describes the buffalo’s screams as similar to a lion, implying that it is the people who are courageous, not Mao.
