Understanding My Father by A. Gautam My father was not an emotional person. He didn't talk much either. On those rare occasions
when he did, he never used more words than what was needed. As a result, I did not benefit from a first-hand account of the Cultural Revolution. Instead, I was forced to gather information from other sources. But that wasn't good enough for me. I wanted to hear it from him. We left our country for America when I was just a child. I never knew if my father had worked in the revolution as a peasant, solider, or a revolutionary intellectual. I tried to picture him writing big-character posters and holding great debates with his fellow revolutionaries. Did he use big words? Did he sometimes skip classes to meet with the comrades across China? These were questions I often asked myself. I wanted to ask him if he believed that the right to air one's views fully really existed in his youth. As an only child, who was brought up to think that education was my only key to prosperity, I didn't know why my father did not finish his degree. My father's friends behaved just like him—quiet, laborious, and mysterious. They all looked at me with eyes full of love and hope. Only once, did I hear one of them speak about the past. Uncle Chen recounted something about "not being a Communist," "arrest," and "freedom." It was then that I realized my parents and their friends had always talked to each other in Mandarin, the language I could no longer grasp, when they spoke about their lives back home. At that moment, I regretted my dwindling Chinese vocabulary and the opportunities I had already missed. 9 Based on this excerpt, the Cultural Revolution in China A. provided safety for people who didn't support communism. B. encouraged all citizens to be involved in changing the nation. C. discouraged the citizens from holding meetings and debates. D. demanded that the revolutionaries move to other countries.
