Becoming+an+Enemy+of+the+People

**Becoming an Enemy of the People**

In this novel, there were many different ways that one could become an enemy of the people. Now, to many other cultures these rules might sound ridiculous, but that was and in some cases still is how China operates. **Taking credit where credit is not due****:** One way to become an enemy or an outcast is to claim credit for something even though you had nothing to do with its perfection or high status. An example being when the dentist claimed that he fixed Mao's teeth, even though Mao claimed he was perfection and having this dentist claim to fix his teeth, meant that Mao was flawed. This angered him and therefore mae the dentist unliked and an enemy of the people.


 * Abortions** **:** Abortions were illegal during the time in which this novel takes place. This complicated things when the little seamstress became pregnant and needed to get rid of the baby. First, she considered getting marriage which would not work (see below), so she had to settle on an illegal abortion. This caused the little seamstress to be scowled upon. The doctor who performed the abortion was given two books for his payment to do the abortion and keep it quiet.
 * Marrying at an unfit age****:** China and the reeducation process had strict rules that everyone was meant to obey. One of these rules being that one cannot marry until they become 25 years old. Marrying before this age was considered wrong and was frowned upon immensely. The little Chinese seamstress took marriage into consideration for when she was pregnant until she remember the age requirement to keep her out of trouble.