Embedded in Jiang's story are many references to the personal, social, and economic damage which had a long-ranging effect on China's people after the Cultural Revolution. She focuses on the social injustice done to families, but also to people in positions of public respect such as local officials, teachers, principals and other community leaders. This type of social injustice is communicated through the people closest to her as a child. Her father, many of his colleagues at the theatre, teachers that were previously respected and conscientious, were the focus of attacks by individuals such as Six Fingers, a man who did not seem interested in working at his factory but had the energy to physically attack neighbors, especially those weaker than him.

Men like Six Fingers take advantage of the social chaos that characterized this period to make themselves seem more important without working for it...