In Rae Young's Spider Eaters, the conflict between freewill and determinism is encapsulated in her dramatic life. Growing up in the oppressive environment of revolutionary China, Young's ability to exercise her freedom and individuality was limited by the rules and regulations of the Communist Party. Unlike a democratic society, people had to speak and act in conformity with the Communist Party or risk losing their lives and their families in Young's depiction of revolutionary China. As a nanve Red Guard, Young believed that she had liberated herself from the oppression of her teachers. She thought that she had the freedom to control her life and the lives of others. However, after witnessing the violence and the injustice of the Cultural Revolution, Young realized that she was caught up in a vicious campaign that spiraled beyond her control. Like other Chinese, she was a potential target and victim of the Cultural Revolution. Her short-lived freedom was merely an illusion cultivated by the Communist Party. In a world that stripped individuals of their freewill, Young had to struggle valiantly to hold onto her true identity in defiance of the oppression of larger societal forces of revolutionary China.
Through the Cultural Revolution that handed tremendous power to students, Young believed that for the first time in her life, she was able to exercise her freewill and her freedom to assert herself: "Now those who had made decisions for usùteachers, parents, administratorsùwere swept aside by the storm. We were in charge" (Young 120). In her first initiative, Young capitalized on the opportunity to condemn teachers who had embarrassed or humiliated her in other instances (Young 117). She did not realize that her true reason for her actions were motivated by selfish emotions that were unrelated to the spirit of the Cultural Revolution.
Although Young believed that the Cultural Revolution had granted her freedom, in reality, she ...