2015 NMH Review

Number 2 2015

Northfield Mount Hermon Review The

The Annual Journal of Collected Analytic Essays

by Northfield Mount Hermon Students

Northfield Mount Hermon Review The

P Published by Northfield Mount Hermon Mount Hermon, Massachusetts

Edited by Sean P. Foley

History Teacher, Northfield Mount Hermon

Designed by Harry van Baaren

Table of Contents

Editor’s Note Sean P. Foley

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Christianity in Nazi Germany: A Weapon, a Religion, a Means to an End Chloe Shaw ’17

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Achieving Perfect Silence Isobel Rountree ’16

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The Spread and Westernization of Chinese Cuisine during the Communist Era Lachlan Miller ’17

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Hamlet and Female Actors Emma Kintisch ’17

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Pacification: A Narrow Response Jessica Yang ’17

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Sean P. Foley:

Editor’s Note

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magination, practiced intelligence, and application of knowledge. The student essays featured in the second issue of the Northfield Mount Hermon Review demonstrate these skills, which are qualities of character no less important to leading a life worth living than they are to academic writing. We founded the Northfield Mount Hermon Review to showcase the very best writing produced by our students and to celebrate the life of the mind at NMH. The essays featured in this journal were written by independent, self-determining thinkers who were able to weave specific content into interpretive frameworks and advance cogent arguments. Each explores a revealing tension.

Chloe Shaw ’17 places Adolf Hitler’s rise to power in the socio-cultural context of his time and examines his use of religion as a political tool; through her argument, she explores the tension between social forces and individual agency, asking to what degree Hitler was simply a product of his environment, and to what degree he shaped that environment. Isobel Rountree ’16 through a lean explication of Walt Whitman’s “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer,” illustrates the tension between Rationalism and Romanticism, and the poet’s own preference for the latter. Lachlan Miller ’17 examines the unintended cultural consequences of economic policies in Communist China; the tension between national autonomy and economic power is revealed in the discrepancy between intentions and outcomes. Emma Kintisch ’15, in her thoughtful interpretation of the true tragedies in Hamlet, explores the tension between social norms and individual desires, asserting that self-determined action is essential to realizing one’s full humanity and decrying the limitations placed on female actors. Jessica Yang ’17 posits that the Pacification program instituted in Rio de Janeiro’s favelas is wholly inadequate and cannot meet its stated objective; the tension between the stated ideals of the program and its real effects draws into question its underlying motivation and legitimacy.

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These five essays were selected from a highly competitive pool of applicants.

We were thoroughly impressed by the volume and quality of essays that were submitted, and by the careful revisions each student endeavored at the behest of the editor. We are happy to note that students from a range of grade levels (10‒12) are represented in this issue, and we hope that the Review will continue to attract submissions from a diverse spectrum of students. We also look forward to featuring essays from a greater number of academic departments in the future. We thank all the students who submitted papers and the teachers who nominated papers for our consideration.

In addition, we thank the generous sponsorship of the Communications Office, particularly Cheri Cross, Pam Lierle, and Harry van Baaren. We also thank Dean of Faculty Hugh Silbaugh for his support, and Head of School Peter Fayroian for his encouragement.

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Chloe Shaw ’17

Christianity in Nazi Germany: A Weapon, a Religion, a Means to an End

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here is arguably no man in history more infamous than Adolf Hitler. Hitler worked his way up Germany’s political ladder slowly and methodically, eventually becoming reich chancellor and führer. Hitler’s reign of approximately 12 years, from 1934 to 1945, ultimately culminated in the genocide of more than six million Jews in what is often known as the Holocaust.1 Adolf Hitler was very much a product of his time, numbering among the many vitriolic and revanchist nationalists created by the combination of Europe’s already prevalent anti-Semitism, and the antagonistic public mood that dominated the years following World War I. Despite this, what ultimately separated Hitler from the crowd was his leadership, and in particular, his ability to employ Christianity as an antiSemitic weapon. Influenced by the burgeoning foundation of anti-Semitism and the hostile political climate of post-WWI Germany, Adolf Hitler exploited Christianity and its relationship with Judaism in order to enforce his power over the German populace and further National Socialism as an anti-Semitic political movement. On his systematic climb upward, Hitler capitalized on Christian values in order to win over a predominantly Christian audience, essentially using Christianity as a weapon against the Jews.

Anti-Semitism existed both in Germany and throughout the world long before Hitler’s regime. When the Nazi party began their campaign against the Jews, they were not creating new ideas but building off a foundation of pre-existing prejudices.2 Since the Middle Ages, European Jews had been consistently marginalized within their communities, barred from taking up certain professions and denied

1 “Hitler, Adolf (1889‒1945),” Antisemitism: A Historical Encyclopedia of Prejudice and Persecution, Ed., Richard S. Levy, Vol. 1. (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2005).

2 Laurence Rees, Auschwitz: A New History, (New York: Public Affairs, 2005).

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citizenship rights.3 The rise of anti-Semitism as an organized movement, with its own political parties in Germany and Austria, was marked by the election of Karl Lueger as mayor of Vienna. Lueger and his virulently anti-Semitic campaigns won over “a city of diverse culture and many Jews,”4 which opened the door for decades of active persecution of Jews and laid the foundation for years of anti-Semitism.

The political and economic consequences of World War I significantly aggravated anti-Semitism throughout Europe. This exacerbated an already hostile politicoeconomic climate, thus giving anti-Semites and right-wing nationalists the platform to make the Jewish community into a scapegoat for Germany’s defeat. However, the reality was that many German Jews had fought and died alongside their fellow non-Jewish countrymen. Furthermore, contrary to the claims of many antiSemitic political parties, most German Jews were neither Communist nor left wing.5 The blame that the Nazi political party — alongside many other revengeseeking anti-Semitic parties — placed upon the German Jews was rooted in stereotyped views of the Jewish community. Seizing upon the stereotypes circulating Germany, Nazi propagandists portrayed the Jews as “an alien race that fed off the host nation, poisoned its culture, seized its economy, and enslaved its workers and farmers.”6 These negative social paradigms were then worsened by the German fear of the perceived threat that was “Jewish Bolshevism,”7 which stemmed from the many Jewish Bolsheviks who were leaders in the November 1917 Russian Revolution. The stereotypes spread by anti-Semitic political parties and the supposedly existential threat of Jewish Bolshevism, in combination, created an extremely antagonistic public mood that ultimately spurred Hitler and his followers to begin a series of anti-Semitic campaigns.

Hitler’s own anti-Semitic beliefs can be traced back to the time he spent attempting to apply to art school in Vienna. Hitler was not raised in an anti-Semitic house3 Michael Berenbaum, “Anti-Semitism in Medieval Europe,” Encyclopedia Britannica Online, Web, 16 Nov. 2014.

4 Berenbaum.

5 Rees.

6 United States Holocaust Memorial, “Defining the Enemy,” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, June 20, 2014, Accessed April 02, 2015, http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article. php?ModuleId=10007819.

7 Ibid.

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hold; in fact, his father, Alois, “had not been anti-Semitic and had regarded anti-Jewish utterances as a sign of backwardness.”8 When Hitler moved to Vienna in 1905 in order to apply to the prestigious Vienna Art Academy, however, the city was a hub of anti-Semitic activities.9 During his time there, Hitler would have quickly become acquainted with some of the numerous anti-Semitic movements present in Vienna, many of which “published literature ascribing destructive behavior to the Jews and asserting that Jews were a race, which could not and would not change.”10 This allowed Hitler to draw the same conclusions that many on the nationalistic right had similarly come to: because it was Jews who benefited from the defeat of Germany in World War I, it must therefore also be the Jews who held responsibility for Germany’s losses. In order to justify these beliefs, they pointed to German Jews like Walther Rathenau, Germany’s foreign minister, who had risen to power in the postwar Weimar government.11 In 1919, Hitler joined what would soon become the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, more commonly known as the Nazi Party.12 The convictions and ideals that Hitler acquired during his time in Vienna, influenced by the broader social movement occurring throughout Germany, eventually prompted him to begin his campaign calling for the systematic elimination of Jewish communities in Germany.

Although he was not a Christian, Hitler took advantage of the historic tension between Judaism and Christianity, using his own interpretation of Christianity in order to characterize his anti-Semitic campaign as a holy battle against evil in a predominantly Christian Germany. Though Christianity is not an anti-Semitic faith, the Christian world of the era did not condemn anti-Semitism. Furthermore, as Germany’s population was mostly Christian, biblical teachings were often cited both before and throughout the Nazi regime as rationalization for anti-Semitic rhetoric and legislations.13 Christianity, therefore, became an extremely useful tool 8 Raul Hilberg, Perpetrators, Victims, Bystanders: The Jewish Catastrophe, 1933‒1945, (New York: Aaron Asher, 1992).

9 Ibid.

10 Ibid.

11 Rees.

12 “Nazi Party,” History.com, Accessed April 03, 2015, http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/nazi-party.

13 Victoria Barnett, and Franklin Sherman, “Jews and Christians: The Unfolding Interfaith Relationship,” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, United States Holocaust Memorial Council, Web, 19 Nov. 2014.

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for Hitler in his lobby against Judaism. Recognizing that he could use Christianity in order to affirm order and purpose — one of the five facets of religion — in the people of Germany, Hitler began a movement based around his own form of Christianity, which he called “Positive Christianity.”14 This movement asserted that Jesus Christ was the son of God, but had not been a Jew, and that it had been the Jews who were to blame for his death.15 Convinced that Hitler was a keen Christian leader and that his anti-Semitism stemmed from a love of God and Christianity, the German people “loved him, held him inviolate, and pronounced him not responsible for ‘excesses,’ which they believed to have been perpetrated behind his back and without his knowledge.”16 In this way, Hitler appropriated aspects of Christianity to better fuel Germany’s anti-Semitic campaign.

Hitler’s rhetoric was the primary vehicle he used to promote his Positive Christianity movement. In one speech, Hitler claimed that “We tolerate no one in our ranks who attacks the ideas of Christianity … In fact our movement is Christian.”17 In another, he told the German public that “as a Christian I have no duty to allow myself to be cheated, but I have the duty to be a fighter for truth and justice.”18 Hitler repeatedly claimed that he would bring justice to the Jews for their crimes, reinforcing the idea that it had been the Jews who had brought about the death of Jesus Christ and that it would be the Jews, too, who would bring about the death of the German nation. In these speeches, he asserted that his campaign against anti-Semitism was a holy battle fully supported by God, saying, “Almighty God, bless our arms when the time comes; be just as thou hast always been; judge now whether we be deserving of freedom; Lord, bless our battle!”19 By doing so, Hitler painted the German Jews as a common enemy that German Christians had to band together to defeat.

14 William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany, (London: Secker & Warburg, 1960).

15 Ibid.

16 Hilberg.

17 Adolf Hitler and Norman Hepburn Baynes, The Speeches of Adolf Hitler, April 1922‒August 1939, (New York: H. Fertig, 1969).

18 Ibid.

19 Ibid.

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Hitler also utilized Christianity in his writing to propagandize the negative paradigm of the Jews as a religious enemy, and to generate followers through the reinforcement of his image as a passionate Christian leader. Hitler also frequently expressed his ideas about Christianity in writing. During the 1920s, he wrote about Christianity in his autobiographical manifesto, Mein Kampf, while he was imprisoned in Landsberg Prison after the Beer Hall Putsch.20 Much of his writing was peppered with religious undertones, as he claimed that he was “acting in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator,” and so “by defending [himself ] against the Jew, [he was] fighting for the work of the Lord.”21 Hitler’s writings in Mein Kampf highlighted him as a martyr of the Christian faith. Just like the Jesus of his Positive Christianity, Hitler had been working to bring salvation to his people, but his downfall after the failure of the Beer Hall Putsch had somehow been brought about by the Jews. Thus, Hitler attempted to portray himself as a messianic figure in an effort to convince Germany that “the Jews tried to keep the people as dumb masses while he tried to turn them into a brilliant folk,”22 and that the only way for the German people to overcome the national circumstances caused by their Jewish adversaries would be to align themselves with Hitler and his ideas. Hitler’s Positive Christianity, therefore, offered him the religious power to affirm order and purpose for his followers, giving them something to believe in that would align both with his campaign and with their pre-existing belief in Christianity.

Despite his numerous allusions to God and to Positive Christianity in his campaign against Judaism, there was ultimately no place for religion in Hitler’s plans for Germany. Although his public persona exploited Christianity and its hold over the German people, Hitler believed that “in the long run National Socialism and religion [would] no longer be able to exist together.”23 Hitler had been steeped in anti-Semitic culture for much of his adulthood, and anti-Semitic discourse had had a large hand in shaping his ideals, but his use of religion was purely opportunistic: because Germany was a mostly Christian country, portraying himself as a leader 20 Jay Y. Gonen, The Roots of Nazi Psychology: Hitler’s Utopian Barbarism, (Lexington, KY: U of Kentucky, 2000).

21 Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, Trans. Ralph Manheim, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1943).

22 Gonen.

23 Adolf Hitler and Hugh Redwald, Trevor-Roper, Hitler’s Table Talk: 1941‒1944, with an Introd. Essay on the Mind of Adolf Hitler by H. R. Trevor-Roper, (Oxford: Oxford UP, 1988).

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determined to protect and uphold Christianity aligned with his goal of securing power and completing Germany’s anti-Semitic campaign. In his first explicit writings about the Jews, Hitler drew a clear distinction between “anti-Semitism of emotions, which could give rise only to temporary eruptions, or pogroms, without leading to a solution to the Jewish problem, and an anti-Semitism of reason, which would result in a series of legal measures aimed at the eventual elimination of the Jews.”24 For Hitler, Christianity was the instrument with which he could push his “anti-Semitism of reason” forward in an attempt to engage as many people as possible in his campaign to purify Germany through the ostracism and eventual elimination of the Jews.

The “Christian” persona that Hitler maintained was a critical aspect of the German churchgoing public’s rationale for supporting Hitler. It allowed the German populace to “exclude Hitler from their condemnation of the anti-Christian Party radicals, continuing to see in him the last hope of protecting Christianity from Bolshevism.”25 However, in reality, to Hitler Christianity was no more than a “temporary ally.”26 To Hitler one could not be both a Christian and a German: “Nazism itself was a religion, a pagan religion, and Hitler was its high priest ... Its high altar [was] Germany itself and the German people, their soil and forests and language and traditions.”27 Toward the end of the Nazi regime, Christian churches that would not conform to the Positive Christianity movement were persecuted, and many Christians were forced to go into hiding. Christianity was just a means to an end, and once the Nazi regime was well and truly under way, Hitler quickly discarded it. Hitler’s Christian mask gave the German people a convenient excuse to, at best, ignore an ugly truth, and at worst, to participate in the extermination of more than six million people.

In conclusion, the image of a keen Christian leader eager to protect Christianity that Adolf Hitler cultivated, alongside the Christian values that he purportedly held, allowed the people of Nazi Germany to ignore his failings and participate in the systematic oppression of the Jews. By claiming that he was acting out God’s 24 Hilberg.

25 Ian Kershaw, The “Hitler Myth”: Image and Reality in the Third Reich, (Oxford: Clarendon, 1987).

26 Martin E. Marty, A Short History of Christianity, (New York: Meridian, 1959).

27 Ibid.

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will, Hitler used Christianity to reinforce his anti-Jewish rhetoric. However, for Hitler, Christianity was just a means to achieve his true goal of racially purifying Germany through the enforcement of the highly anti-Semitic National Socialism.

The many different facets of religion can all help it to provide meaning to the lives of many people around the world. However, blind and unquestioning faith to one’s religion can be highly dangerous, and creates opportunities for people to use religion as a weapon against other faiths, individuals, and social groups in the same way that Hitler used Christianity against the Jews.

Bibliography Barnett, Victoria and Franklin Sherman, Dr. “Jews and Christians: The Unfolding Interfaith Relationship.” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2014. <http://www.ushmm. org/research/the-center-for-advanced-holocaust-studies/programs-ethics-religion-the-holocaust/articles-and-resources/jews-and-christians-the-unfolding-interfaith-relationship>.

Berenbaum, Michael. “Anti-Semitism in Medieval Europe.” Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2014. <http://www.britannica. com/EBchecked/topic/27646/anti-Semitism/215021/Anti-Semitism-in-medieval-Europe>.

Berenbaum, Michael. “Anti-Semitism in Modern Europe.” Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2014. <http://www.britannica. com/EBchecked/topic/27646/anti-Semitism/215022/Anti-Semitism-in-modern-Europe>.

Berenbaum, Michael. “Holocaust (European History).” Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2014. <http://www.britannica. com/EBchecked/topic/269548/Holocaust>.

“Deceiving the Public.” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 20 June 2014. Web. 16 Nov. 2014. <http://www. ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007822>.

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Gonen, Jay Y. The Roots of Nazi Psychology: Hitler’s Utopian Barbarism. Lexington, KY: U of Kentucky, 2000. Print.

Hilberg, Raul. Perpetrators, Victims, Bystanders: The Jewish Catastrophe, 1933‒1945.

New York: Aaron Asher, 1992. Print.

“Hitler, Adolf (1889‒1945).”.Antisemitism: A Historical Encyclopedia of Prejudice and Persecution. Ed. Richard S. Levy. Vol. 1. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2005.

N. pag. Print.

Hitler, Adolf and Hugh Redwald. Trevor-Roper. Hitler’s Table Talk: 1941‒1944, with an Introd. Essay on the Mind of Adolf Hitler by H. R. Trevor-Roper. Oxford: Oxford U, 1988. Print.

Hitler, Adolf and Norman Hepburn Baynes. The Speeches of Adolf Hitler, April 1922‒August 1939. New York: H. Fertig, 1969. Print.

Hitler, Adolf. Mein Kampf. Trans. Ralph Manheim. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1943. Print.

Kershaw, Ian. The “Hitler Myth”: Image and Reality in the Third Reich. Oxford: Clarendon, 1987. Print.

Marty, Martin E. A Short History of Christianity. New York: Meridian, 1959. Print.

Rees, Laurence. Auschwitz: A New History. New York: Public Affairs, 2005. Print.

Shirer, William L. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany.

London: Secker & Warburg, 1960. Print.

Steigmann-Gall, Richard. The Holy Reich: Nazi Conceptions of Christianity, 1919‒1945. New York: Cambridge UP, 2003. Print.

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Isobel Rountree ’16

Achieving Perfect Silence

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he juxtaposition of learning by experiment and learning by experience in Walt Whitman’s “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” tells of his guiding ideologies and basic principles. The Romantic Era, out of which Whitman gained popularity, was the counter-movement to the popularization of rationalization through the Age of Enlightenment. “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” is a clear example of the clash between the two philosophies, Whitman’s preference for the romantic obvious in the poem’s conclusion.

Whitman, America’s king, constantly related to the grandness of the country through lines of lists. His enumerations in “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” do more than simply tell of the vastness of his subject. They exhaust. The first half of the poem is repetitive, Whitman’s signature anaphora droning on. “The proofs, the figures, … the charts and diagrams” make Whitman “tired and sick”; only in leaving the room full of logic does he feel normal again. The rational astronomer is made more boring with literary devices, making the reader just as tired and sick as Whitman is.

As Whitman leaves the lecture hall, his free and romantic nature is revealed. The style of the second half of the poem is refreshing, which reflects Whitman’s mood as he “wander’d off by [himself ], / In the mystical moist night air.” Mystical, the word being so clearly opposite to the astronomer’s description of the cosmos, is critical in the poem. Having spiritual and mysterious connotations, a mystical sky is one that Whitman thinks we should all see. Unaccountable touches on both Whitman’s removal from the “accountant” — the astronomer with his numbers and calculations — and his inexplicable unease “in the lecture room.” The stars are not tangible nor are they confinable, and Whitman feels that calculations and charts shouldn’t give those who study them misguided notions of understanding. The last line leaves the reader wanting to be with him, its iambic pentameter reflecting the perfection and simplicity of being among the stars.

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The theme of the poem is not elusive, as the contrast between the two schools of thought is stark. The droning multiplicity of organizational tools describes the same stars that Whitman sees in “perfect silence,” but it is clear that the two views are opposite. Whitman suggests with this episode how everyone should attempt to see the stars and the world — without quantifying and calculating, but simply by experiencing what they offer. The attitude toward logic and reasoning that Whitman displays in “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” is unsurprising, as his involvement in the Transcendentalist and Romantic movements was a defining quality of all his work.

In “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer,” Whitman makes his point clear with the juxtaposition of the boring lecture hall and the refreshing, silent night outside.

This not only makes clear Whitman’s love for nature, but also his contempt for scientific reasoning. With this poem, Whitman shows the reader how allowing things to be as they are and experiencing them is more important than forcing everything into comprehensible categories.

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Lachlan Miller ’17

The Spread and Westernization of Chinese Cuisine during the Communist Era Introduction

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n every moderately sized American city, one can find a particular type of building, the type with a flowing red facade on the overhang and a bright neon sign in the window with the words “Chinese Buffet.” Inside are the typical booth tables, with zodiac placemats and hot bars full of somewhat soggy-looking Chinese foods. The Chinese style has become a popular type of cooking among many people across the world. However, many of these restaurants seem strangely Western upon closer inspection. In many American Chinese restaurants, only some of the food seems inspired by a traditional cooking style. The same can be said of food in China, which is clearly influenced by Western tastes. This includes everything from Western chains appearing in Chinese cities to American foods in the buffet lines.

What has caused this mixing of food cultures from opposite ends of the globe? One might assume it has occurred naturally and inevitably over time because of globalization. With transportation and communication technology tying the world closer together than ever before, cross-cultural diffusion is inexorable. Yet this is not the whole story — the mixing of Chinese and Western cuisines is remarkable because of the role the Chinese government and its economic policies played in the process.

While cross-cultural diffusion was accelerated by extensive economic growth that resulted from the policies of the Communist government, some of the early plans for development nearly caused the destruction of the traditional food culture before it ever had the chance to spread to the West. The Communist Party’s economic policies initially came close to destroying the Chinese food culture, and the globalizing conditions in which it subsequently recovered led to both its diffusion and, conversely, its Westernization.

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Economic Reform and Global Power When Chairman Mao Zedong took control of China along with the Communist Party in 1949, his first order of business was to develop the economy in order to compete with the other world powers. To do this, Mao first looked to the Soviets for inspiration, in part because the Soviets offered a viable model to stand up to Western power while embracing an alternative to Westernization.

In 1953, the government started its first five-year plan. This called for the mass construction of factories and the development of other industries. The Soviets showed their support for China’s plan and provided funding for these projects.1 Over time, the government also started directly organizing agriculture for collectivization. The farmers across China had previously worked in small family groups, growing in order to eat and sell. Under the five-year plan, most of the peasant population was organized into self-contained communes, each responsible for supplying a set quota of produce to the government. Advanced research into agricultural technology was limited, but Mao did outline the importance of improving soil, fertilizer, seed, irrigation, close planting, double cropping, plant protection, and tools.2 While the construction goals of the first plan were not met, it nevertheless was a success. The economy saw considerable growth, and China began to edge closer to the other world powers while remaining independent from them.

At this point, Mao became encouraged by the success of the five-year plan, and China decided to break from the Soviet model. In a daring attempt to surpass the U.S., Britain, and, secretly, the Soviets, Mao initiated the Great Leap Forward in 1948. In this new plan, farmers were even further controlled, and many were forced to create steel mills in their own backyards.3 While Mao imagined that this plan would increase food supply and steel production for export, the real effects worsened the condition both materially and culturally.

1 John P. McKay, Bennett D. Hill, and John Buckler, A History of World Societies, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1988), 979.

2 G. F. Sprague, “Agriculture in China,” Science 188, no. 4188 (May 09, 1975), doi:10.1126/ science.188.4188.549.

3 Yixin Chen, “Cold War Competition and Food Production in China, 1957‒1962,” Agricultural History 83, no. 1 (2009): pg. #, doi:10.3098/ah.2008.83.1.51.

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Mao’s first five-year plan may have been a success, but the new Great Leap Forward most certainly was not. In the first place, steel production was not increased by any considerable amount. This was due to the fact that peasants trying to make steel out of their old farming tools in homemade mills did not produce very high quality steel. The more serious problem caused by the Great Leap was diminished food production. As it was, most farmers were busy attempting to create steel, so little attention was given to agriculture. Those who continued farming had few tools left that had not yet been melted down. The result was a massive famine that killed as many as 20 million people. Probably at least half of those who died were under the age of 10.4 Many others died in smelting accidents in their DIY steel mills.

These catastrophes endangered the food culture in multiple ways. First, there was the fact that many people were dying of starvation, each of whom carried knowledge about the old traditions. In fact, it was most likely that the elderly were dying along with the young, and they were the ones who possessed the knowledge of the old ways, particularly in a time of revolution like the Communist control of China.

Second, with so little food to go around, it was unlikely that people could access many or very good quality ingredients.

Cultural Destruction Another of Mao’s great plans, the Cultural Revolution, nearly destroyed the food culture altogether. The purpose of the revolution was to unify China, particularly the younger generation, under the great Chairman Mao, and instill a strong sense of national identity. This would allow Mao to hold on to his power and continue to develop China. As bad as the Great Leap had been, the Cultural Revolution, initiated in 1966, more directly damaged the quality of the cuisine. The Cultural Revolution marked a distinct shift in values; luxuries that signified class distinction were done away with, and society was equalized to the lowest common denominator. This was apparent in the food rationing program, which was highly destructive to the food culture.

4 Communists, Nationalists, and China’s Revolutions: Crash Course World History #37, prod. Stan Muller, perf. John Green, YouTube, October 4, 2012, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUCEeC4f6ts.

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During the Cultural Revolution, food was almost entirely rationed. This left little room for the good cooking that China was known for. First, grain and other produce was being collected by the government before distribution, so there was no guaranteeing the quality of the ingredients by the time of delivery. Second, if only the necessities were being given out, the people could not access the variety of ingredients needed to make the traditional recipes.

Another effect of food rationing was the massive reduction in the number of restaurants. Where there had once been eateries throughout the cities, there were only government stores selling the basic necessities to the people. Restaurants became few and far between. This resulted in well-trained chefs no longer being able to practice their art. Many chefs had fled China at the start of the Communist revolution, and those that were left were reassigned to other jobs that were seen as more important to China’s development. Even in the cafeterias and diners left, the workers employed there were given little to no formal training.5 Master chef Zhu Fin had this to say to the New York Times: “[T]he art of cooking definitely was halted. There were just no positions for that type of cooking. I had always been meticulously trained that food should taste a certain way and look a certain way, but during that time, nobody really bothered.”6 The Cultural Revolution was designed to unify China so that growth could effectively continue. However, it ended up being another plan that simply resulted in more suffering and cultural destruction.

These initial attempts at economic growth instituted by the new government in China came close to destroying traditional Chinese cooking. The plans to maintain China’s independence from the West proved hugely catastrophic to Chinese citizens and Chinese culture. Millions of people died, and knowledge that had been passed down through the generations died with them.7 During the Cultural Revolution, people no longer cared about the cooking that had for so long played a major part in all areas of Chinese life. During this beginning era of Chinese Communism, the government nearly destroyed the cooking tradition, along with the many other old ways attacked during this time of upheaval.

5 Ibid.

6 Zhu Fin, “Food; Back to China,” interview, New York Times, March 3, 1985.

7 Stan Muller, Communists, Nationalists, China’s Revolutions.

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Food Culture and National Identity Even though Mao created the Cultural Revolution and the Great Leap in order to benefit China, the effects that endangered traditional cooking also endangered China as a nation. The Great Leap was instituted so that China could avoid being dominated by the other world powers, particularly the Western ones. It was also a way of being different from them by following a different developmental model.

Ironically, the government came close to destroying the food culture in the process.

Food is one of the things that can define a nation or region and set it apart from outsiders. With the traditional cooking gone, China would have lost one of the factors that make China unique.

Traditional cooking also carries a great deal of importance in the public’s point of view. Food is a central aspect of many, if not all, cultures. For many, cooking can be a way of expressing love and having a good time with family and friends. Food is also a central aspect to festivals and other major celebrations, as well as a way of connecting to the divine in whatever form it may take.8 This is true in China in particular. The old philosophies specifically outlined the importance of honoring the family and proper relationships. The family-style meals helped to uphold this and bring the people together. Had the Cultural Revolution succeeded, a very deep-seated way of life could have been permanently disrupted.

Economic Innovation and Recovering Tradition After the death of Chairman Mao in 1976, conditions improved for both the people and the cooking tradition. Mao’s successor, Deng Xiaoping, made some changes immediately after gaining control that would more effectively improve China’s economic standing. In an effort to prevent a recurrence of the previous food shortages, Deng changed the agricultural philosophy as one of his four modernizations.

Collectivization had clearly not been an effective method for providing food for the people, so the large communes were disbanded. The farmers were now instructed to work in small family groups, and were also left with a choice of what to grow. Once grown, the crops were once again sold and distributed through the market and not 8 Victoria Pope, “The Communal Table,” National Geographic, December 2014, 54‒63.

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through the government. Under this system, China’s food production rose by more than 50 percent.9 Another of his changes was a dramatic shift in China’s internal economy. The change was made to a free-market approach. Private businesses such as the old eateries were once more allowed in cities. Furthermore, foreign capitalists were now allowed to set up industrial operations within China. While the government did maintain control over most factories, the previously shutoff China was now allowing capitalists to develop in China and ship their products to the rest of the world. During this time, China’s economy managed to grow even more and open up trade with the other major nations.10 This in turn encouraged the trading of Western products back into China, starting the trend of Westernization. This new approach to the economy not only encouraged trade and thereby Westernization but was also in and of itself a Western capitalist idea. While the old plans for growth only led to the destruction of traditional cuisine, these new plans from the government helped to revive traditional cooking. Also, now that China and the Western nations were engaged in trade, economic growth was further accelerated, and food products from each nation were able to travel to and from the other.

Once the Cultural Revolution had ended, the Chinese government recognized its mistake and went about repairing the damaged culture. The government eventually realized that the revolution was really destroying the culture that defined China as a nation and it rescinded the lockdown on the old ways. Most culinary schools throughout the country had been closed during the revolution due to their connection to the old traditions. However, these schools began reopening and offering classes immediately after the revolution’s end. By 1985, more than 120 schools and academies were open and taking in a total of 18,000 students. Additionally, there were people engaged in apprenticeships in various other establishments such as restaurants and hotels. The government also took an active part in assisting the recovery of China’s cuisine. Most authoritative cookbook series had been burned in the fires of the revolution. In 1975, the government began a project to replace them. They partnered with the Japanese publishing company Shufunotomo Ltd. in order to create a nine-book series titled “Authentic Chinese Cooking.” These were exquisitely crafted books, each of which mostly comprised full-color images of both 9 McKay, Hill, Buckler, A History of World Societies, 981.

10 Ibid., 982.

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the dishes and the restaurants from which they were sourced. The series was first published in Japan in 1982.11 With the government so concerned with preserving some of the old culture, a proper documentation of Chinese cooking could finally be shared with the outside world. This is one example of government action taken to revive the old ways after the destruction caused by the original attempted development.

Cultural Diffusion With China developing as a major power, and trade and tourism increasing, Chinese food was ready to spread to the rest of the world. Here again the government played a role in reviving and diffusing Chinese cooking. The Sichuan province produces some of China’s most recognizable styles of cooking. However, the public knowledge of Sichuan food usually stops at the popular hot and spicy flavors. This leaves out the many other distinctive and enjoyable flavors.12 In the 1980s, the leaders of the Sichuan province decided to send 10 of their top chefs to New York in order to man the Sichuan Pavillion restaurant. Two years later, more cooks were sent to other countries to spread the tradition. This was an example of an authentic cultural exchange orchestrated by the government.13 When China opened up to the world, people were free to come and go as tourists in China. This meant that people were able to experience the local cuisine firsthand and gather information about it. An event that furthered this firsthand experience was the 2008 Olympic Games, held in Beijing. This event, like any other Olympic Games, drew people from all across the world to Beijing. In addition, many new restaurants and menus were created, along with the new facilities and transportation systems.14 Now that China had grown to be an important figure in the global perspective, people were encouraged to come and see China for themselves. While there, the people could 11 Authentic Chinese Cuisine, vol. 1 (Tokyo: Shufunotomo, 1984).

12 Fuchsia Dunlop, “Sizzling Sichuan: It’s Asia’s Hottest Food Spot, So Award-Winning Chef Fuchsia Dunlop Welcomes in Chinese New Year by Heading to Chengdu to Experience Its Spicy Delights,” The Observer (London, England), January 22, 2012, accessed December 3, 2014, http://infoweb.newsbank. com/resources/doc/nb/news/13C6ED7BDD5308C8?p=AWNSE. 13 Nina Simonds, “Food; Back to China.” New York Times, March 3, 1985. http://search.proquest. comdocview/425361584?acountid=5771.

14 “Food Culture Blossoms in China.” The Associated Press News Service,

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experience the food and quite possibly take some recipes back home. This aided the spread of Chinese cooking to other parts of the world. The increasing trade also aided the mix of cultures. As long as there is trade, there will be food products traveling back and forth. If there are foreign food products appearing in the markets, the diets of the people will inevitably be modified to include these foreign foods.

Westernization As trade was flourishing between China and the Western nations, the West was also free to influence Chinese food in return. This can be clearly seen when looking at any Chinese city. All sorts of Western chains such as KFC and McDonald’s have appeared in malls and along the streets. As Western products have made their way into stores, many brands of snack foods have appeared on Chinese shelves. Product lines such as Oreo and Lay’s have even tweaked their carefully perfected recipes and created entirely new flavors for other countries such as China. After changing the cookie design and some of the flavors, the Oreo became the most-purchased cookie brand in China.15 Changes to laws in America have also aided the trade of American products to China. Berry products that are to be shipped to China must receive a sanitary certificate from the USDA in order to ship. Until recently, this certificate could only be given to fresh fruit, and all products had to arrive at their destination by a deadline. The difficulty was that at any point the fruit could be seized by Chinese customs, and would expire while in quarantine. However, a cranberry grower from Curry County, Oregon, petitioned just this year for the shipping license to be extended to frozen products. The motion was passed, and now the shipping process is as simple as having an inspector write an approval for a small fee.16 This will further encourage trade with China and other Asian countries. These days, there are even Western foods appearing in Chinese restaurants. French fries and fried fish have made their way onto the Lazy Susans of restaurants serving traditional 15 Candice Choi, “U.S. Snacks with International Makeovers: With a Few Tweaks, American Snack Food Can Suit Local Tastes from Europe to China. The Changes Pay Off.,” Los Angeles Times, May 20, 2012, http://search.proquest.com/docview/1014282431?accountid=5771.

16 Carly Mayberry, “Frozen Outlook: Area Growers Now Allowed to Ship Frozen Berries to China,” The World (Coos Bay, Oregon), October 28, 2014, http://theworldlink.com/news/local/area-growers-nowallowed-to-ship-frozen-berries-to-china/article_94c809d2-5ec8-11e4-8b3c-ff49e2666764.html.

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family-style meals. The growth in the economic standing of China caused by the government has led to large amounts of trade and tourism between China and the Western nations. The result of this has been the Western influences that can be seen all around China.

Because of the way China grew its economy, the Westernization of Chinese cuisine was inevitable. The trade and tourism that top world powers like China and the U.S. share make this the case. With so many food products moving back and forth between China and the U.S., each country’s food makes its way onto the plates of the other. As stated before, there are also more and more tourists coming to enjoy China. As long as there are Western tourists coming through, it is in China’s interest to adapt the menus to make the Americans feel more at home, encouraging even more tourism. Also, China can make more money by allowing big Western chains to set up shop in Chinese cities. However, the increase in profit is not the only reason for the introduction of Western themes. Another explanation is embedded within Chinese cooking itself. Just like many cooks, Chinese chefs do their best to improve the quality of Chinese cuisine by observing and learning from styles of cooking other than that of their own region. The introduction of the first volume of “Authentic Chinese Cooking” states that “Guangdong chefs will further learn and absorb exotic ideas from abroad, hence to scale new heights for excellence and perfection.”17

Conclusion The mixture of the food cultures of China and the West has largely been driven by the trade and tourism between the two countries. However, without the trends and decisions made by the Communist government, these conditions would not have come into play. Had the Chinese government’s early policies been successful, and the need for trade with the West less pressing, perhaps Chinese food would have remained unblemished by outside influences. However, this certainly wasn’t the case. The cultural mixing that occurs today is a result of the success of the economic reforms and the prevalence of trade and tourism.

17 Authentic Chinese Cuisine, vol. 1.

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One can also argue that these reforms have revitalized Chinese traditions. However, it is questionable as to whether or not the recovery of Chinese cuisine could accurately be called a recovery once the process of Westernization came into play. The tradition may have been saved from complete destruction, but it is not the same traditional food that it was. Now that Western foods have made their way into the Chinese diet, and Western chains are butchering the traditional cooking style, this cannot be called a full recovery. American companies and products are in the same predicament. Take the case of the modified Oreo, for example. After being changed to suit the preferences of the Chinese palate, can this product still truly be the Oreo Americans created and grew to love? Despite this, the Chinese tradition is still better off than having been lost altogether. There are still restaurants that have preserved the traditional practices. These dedicated eateries hold the tradition in place, even though there are now brands and restaurants from each country residing everywhere throughout the other. As time goes on and free trade continues, so too will the diffusion. In the future, cultural mixing will most certainly extend beyond food. Many people anticipate that Mandarin will become a base language throughout the world. In some works of fiction, American cities more closely resemble those in China. Eventually, America may finally have chain restaurants serving food that is more Chinese than American.

Bibliography Authentic Chinese Cuisine. Vol. 1. Tokyo: Shufunotomo, 1984.

Chen, Yixin. “Cold War Competition and Food Production in China, 1957‒1962.” Agricultural History 83, no. 1 (2009): 51-78. doi:10.3098/ ah.2008.83.1.51.

Choi, Candice. “U.S. Snacks with International Makeovers: With a Few Tweaks, American Snack Food Can Suit Local Tastes from Europe to China. The Changes Pay Off.” Los Angeles Times, May 20, 2012. http://search.proquest.com/ docview/1014282431?accountid=5771.

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Communists, Nationalists, and China’s Revolutions: Crash Course World History #37.

Produced by Stan Muller. Performed by John Green. YouTube. October 4, 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUCEeC4f6ts.

Dunlop, Fuchsia. “Sizzling Sichuan: It’s Asia’s Hottest Food Spot, So Award-winning Chef Fuchsia Dunlop Welcomes in Chinese New Year by Heading to Chengdu to Experience Its Spicy Delights.” The Observer (London, England), January 22, 2012. Accessed December 3, 2014. http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/ nb/news/13C6ED7BDD5308C8?p=AWNSE. Fin, Zhu. “Food; Back to China.” Interview. New York Times, March 3, 1985.

“Food Culture Blossoms in China, AS.” The Associated Press News Service, July 9, 2008. Accessed October 30, 2014. http://infoweb.newsbank.com/resources/doc/ nb/news/14131206F37E1160?p=AWNSE. Mayberry, Carly. “Frozen Outlook: Area Growers Now Allowed to Ship Frozen Berries to China.” The World (Coos Bay, Oregon), October 28, 2014. http://theworldlink.com/news/local/area-growers-now-allowed-to-ship-frozen-berries-to-china/article_94c809d2-5ec8-11e4-8b3c-ff49e2666764.html.

McKay, John P., Bennett D. Hill, and John Buckler. A History of World Societies.

Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1988.

Pope, Victoria. “The Communal Table.” National Geographic, December 2014, 54‒63.

Simonds, Nina. “Food; Back to China.” New York Times, March 3, 1985. http:// search.proquest.com/docview/425361584?accountid=5771.

Sprague, G. F. “Agriculture in China.” Science 188, no. 4188 (May 09, 1975): 549‒55. doi:10.1126/science.188.4188.549.

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Emma Kintisch ’15

Hamlet and Female Actors

A

lthough Shakespeare lived in the 1500s, the society described in his work has many parallels with modern society –– especially with regard to the treatment of women. In Hamlet, the ability to take action and react to a situation is a highly valued trait. In fact, the play revolves around Prince Hamlet’s struggle to take action and kill his uncle, avenging his father’s murder and fulfilling his role as the “tragic hero.” On the other hand, Queen Gertrude and Ophelia are unrecognized, oppressed, and restrained from taking action and reaching their full potential. They live in a world in which they are expected to be submissive, completely dependent on their male counterparts. Because of this constant oppression, each woman reaches her breaking point and stands up for herself –– but when they finally take action, it is a fatal move for them both. Throughout the play, Gertrude and Ophelia show that they have the strength and courage to step outside of predetermined cultural roles, despite the constant reinforcement from their peers to remain within the boundaries.

The discrimination between the two genders is woven throughout the entire play –– for example, although being proactive is esteemed, it is only honorable when it is a male character that is attempting to act. For example, the majority of the play focuses on Hamlet’s “heroism” as he takes action by avenging his father’s death with the murder of the current king. Females, on the other hand, are expected to act passive and demure. Both Polonius and Laertes advise Ophelia to dismiss Hamlet’s affectionate advances. Her power, they tell her, lies in inaction. “Be wary then; best safety lies in fear,” Laertes counsels.1 The word choices “wary” and “fear” emphasize that women are supposed to be timid and afraid. He does not advise his sister to speak her mind and tell Hamlet how she feels, even though this recommendation would not seem out of place for a male character. When a ghost orders Hamlet 1 William Shakespeare, Act 1, Scene 3, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, ed. Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine (New York: Folger Shakespeare Library, 2012), 41.

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to kill King Claudius, for instance, Hamlet obeys without questioning this call to action. However, Laertes explains to Ophelia that she should be withdrawn and “fear[ful].” The little power she has rests in her ability to retreat –– a clear contradiction to the direct, outward struggle of the male characters.

Through their actions, the male characters constantly overshadow female characters and push them out of the spotlight. During Ophelia’s funeral, a ceremony dedicated to the woman herself, both Hamlet and Laertes argue over who loved her more, turning the attention away from her and onto themselves. “Dost thou come here to whine? / To outface me with leaping in her grave?” Hamlet cries when he sees that Laertes is standing in the earth meant specifically for Ophelia.2 However, it is not this violation of sacred ground that infuriates Hamlet –– the words “her grave” appear at the very end of the phrase, an afterthought tacked on to the far greater offense of “whin[ing]” and attempting to “outface” and act superior to the prince.

Laertes’s ignorance about why “leaping” into Ophelia’s burial site is so disrespectful to her only furthers the argument that women are perceived as helpless creatures.

Laertes claims that by leaping into his sister’s grave, he is proving his love for her. In reality, both his own actions and those of Hamlet imply that women are believed to be unable to act for themselves, and must hide in the shadows of their superior counterparts.

Although the male characters appear to have free rein throughout the play, the females are limited by clearly established boundaries that restrict what they can and cannot do. For Queen Gertrude, directly disobeying an order from her husband, the king, is explicitly forbidden. However, when she becomes dangerously close to drinking a poisoned liquid, and King Claudius tells her, “Gertrude, do not drink,” she ignores his command.3 “I will, my Lord; I pray you pardon me,” she replies, and takes a sip.4 Regardless of her husband’s pointed reminder that she should remain submissive, she decides to stand up for herself and take action. She asks for a “pardon” for her violation, which demonstrates that she knows that what she is doing is considered wrong. The queen never learns whether she was granted for

2 Ibid., Act 5, Scene 1, 257.

3 Ibid., Act 5, Scene 2, 277.

4 Ibid., Act 5, Scene 2, 277.

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giveness, because shortly after, the poison takes its toll. This is consistent with the play’s environment as a male-dominated world. Because the queen broke one of the rules and stepped outside of her prescribed role as a woman, she dies.

Likewise, it is not proper for a woman to take her own life, so when Ophelia is found dead in a stream, it is reported as an accident instead of self-murder. Though it is perhaps improper for anyone to take her own life, it is significant that in the case of Ophelia’s suicide she is deprived of agency; her final action was invalidated as something that she had no control over. Queen Gertrude, in a misguided attempt to save Ophelia’s honor, reports, “But long it could not be / Till that her garments, heavy with their drink, / Pulled the poor wretch from her melodious lay / To muddy death.”5 This announcement claims that Ophelia does not take a knowing part in her death. The phrase “her garments … pulled” is in the passive voice, which implies that it was really Ophelia’s clothes that killed her, not the woman herself. The phrase “melodious lay” does the same –– it suggests that Ophelia was mindlessly singing, unaware of her surroundings and her imminent demise.

However, in actuality, Ophelia knew exactly what she was doing when she drowned herself in the stream: she was taking control of her life by dictating its end.

In the modern world, many women still face such oppression from their male counterparts. All over the globe, women are told to remain subservient to the male figures in their lives. They should not act. They should not pursue greatness. They should not step outside of the boundaries that force them into specific, obedient roles. They should not receive an education. In 2012, a young girl named Malala Yousafzai was shot for trying to go to school, something that is only encouraged for young boys in Pakistan. This attempt on her life hauntingly reflects the ends of Queen Gertrude and Ophelia in Hamlet. All three women faced, or even embraced, mortal danger in their brave attempts to break from social norms and self-actualize –– Gertrude disobeying her husband, Ophelia committing suicide, and Malala pursuing an education. Is this really what it should mean to be a female actor?

5 Ibid., Act 4, Scene 7, 235.

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Bibliography Shakespeare, William. The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine. New York: Folger Shakespeare Library, 2012.

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Jessica Yang ’17

Pacification: A Narrow Response A panoramic view of the favela on Corcovado: multiple-stories-high shanties sprawl across the hill haphazardly; they are squeezed tightly next to each other, leaving only a narrow pathway weaving in between buildings for pedestrians. On top of the hill, the establishment of the Pacification Police Unit (UPP), with its sign distinguishable from miles away and its banner waving triumphantly in the air, looms over the entire favela like a vigilant eagle ready to prey. Rio de Janeiro’s 600 favelas, containing one-fifth of Rio’s total population, are home to the city’s poorest neighborhoods and most violent crimes. As the 2016 Olympics looms on Rio’s horizon, the government has accelerated its attempts to control favelas through pacification programs such as the UPP. However, despite the promise of success and widely held optimism due to reports of decreases in violent crime, the pacification program is ill-suited to realize the government’s prospects. The program’s stated purpose is transforming Rio’s favelas into a functioning civilian community, a legal economy, and an engaged citizenry.1 This cannot be realized because its execution is violent and heavy-handed, suffers from corruption, and opens the favelas up to gentrification.

Violence is entrenched in every step of the police of Rio de Janeiro’s complex pacification process. First, an ultimatum would be announced to the drug lords in targeted favelas; then a violent incursion on the favelas would take place to force out the existing drug lords; and finally, the police would maintain a heavy patrol for several months inside the favelas and regulate the area through occupation.

Although the purpose of the pacification program is for the government to intervene in the favelas peacefully, the police are inclined to use violence in confrontation with drug lords and favela residents. Javier Escudero, former professor at the University of Pennsylvania and current director of Brazil Cultural, commented that 1 Adam Isacson, “Rio de Janeiro’s Pacification Program,” Washington Office on Latin America, http://www. wola.org/rio_de_janeiro_s_pacification_program.

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massacre is the only means the police know.2 Numerous incidents involving bloodshed have occurred during police incursions. One infamous example is the raid on Complexo do Alemao in 2010 — a clash between police and drug lords in which a large military and civil police force killed 39 people and injured several others. Human rights violations also occur frequently during occupation, and fear is pervasive among favela residents. Escudero further commented that the drug lords (traficantes) respect the community, but the police do not.3 While the drug lords in some instances act as benign dictators, distributing presents and paying for community improvements, the UPPs, instead of fully integrating themselves into the favela society, treat the residents like criminals and do not hesitate to resort to violence.

Undeterred by the presence of pacification forces, favelas continue to be home to the majority of urban violence, and even in pacified areas drug trafficking is still rampant. This is ascribed to prevalent corruption among the police. The Police of Rio De Janeiro (PMERJ) have a base salary of $984 per month, which leads to malfeasance by police who seek to boost income.4 Poorly paid and receiving little training, they are often tempted to join forces with drug gangs in the favelas. Lack of discipline among police also gives birth to another group of malefactors that jeopardize the favela residents — milícias. Milícias are typically composed of off-duty members of the police. Unscrupulous in their means of gaining control, they have taken over more than half of Rio’s favelas. In some cases, milícias have killed drug lords and members of gangs to take over territory. In others, they have arrived before the drug lords and exploited the residents by offering “protection services.”

In comparison with the drug lords, milícias engage in crimes of a larger scale and a wider variety. Whereas traficantes only trade in drugs and guns on a relatively small scale, milícias regulate the provision of cable television, cooking gas, electricity, transportation, security, weapons, and drugs.5 The arrival of the pacification forces, combined with the influence of mega-events such as the 2016 Olympics, exacerbates the already distinct socioeconomic dispar2 “An Interview with Javier Escudero,” interview by author, April 1, 2015.

3 Ibid.

4 Christopher Gaffney, “Securing the Olympic City,” Georgetown Journal of International Affairs 13, no. 2 (July 01, 2012): 80, accessed April 10, 2015.

5 Ibid., 77.

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ities in the favelas. In pacified areas, real-estate value has experienced vertiginous increase due to the real and perceived improvement in security. In many of the UPP-occupied favelas, real-estate values have increased by as much as 400 percent.6 Also, the removal of gangs and drug lords carve open opportunities for state-led development in real estate to be implemented in the favelas. The most noteworthy construction among all is that of the athletes’ village, which is speculated to become high-end apartments after the event. Unfortunately, the original favela residents are excluded from becoming the beneficiaries of rocketing real-estate prices and new, luxurious residences. As state-led developments polish Rio for the Olympics, they attend to tourists and are rarely in discussions with local residents. The arrival of wealthy consumers in favelas also squeezes the residents out of their homes. Many projects forcibly dislocate residents, who, because they lack property titles, are offered compensation for the assessed value of the materials used to construct their residence but not for the value of the land.7 This leaves them few residential choices other than to build another home in a more distant favela, where obtaining employment and commuting daily are more difficult.

Pacification is an inadequate treatment for the numerous problems that Rio de Janeiro’s favelas face. A corrupted system, through which police easily resort to using violence and the lower classes are squeezed out of the community through gentrification, simply cannot improve the lives of favela residents. Rather than meeting its stated objectives, the true purpose of the pacification program is more likely the temporary stemming of violence while mega-events are taking place. This is further corroborated by the fact that the UPP program has only secured funding up until 2016, the year of the Olympics.8 In order to truly ameliorate the conditions of the favelas and improve the lives of the poor, the government needs to take a more holistic approach. As of now, Rio is not seizing the opportunity provided by the 2016 Olympics to make meaningful progress.

6 Ibid., 78.

7 “High Cash Settlements for Favela Families Forced Out by Olympic Building Work,” The London Evening Standard [London, England], February 2, 2015, accessed April 11, 2015.

8 Victoria Baena, “Favelas in the Spotlight: Transforming the Slums of Rio De Janeiro,” Harvard International Review 33, no. 1 (2011).

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Bibliography “2016 Athletes’ Village Set to Become Luxury Housing.” The New York Times.

March 20, 2015. Accessed April 09, 2015. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/03/21/sports/olympics/ap-oly-rio-2016-athletes-village.html.

Baena, Victoria. “Favelas in the Spotlight: Transforming the Slums of Rio De Janeiro.” Harvard International Review 33, no. 1 (2011): 34‒37. Accessed April 9, 2015. http://search.proquest.com/docview/928970386?accountid=5771.

Bevins, Vincent. “World Cup Reveals Both Best and Worst of Brazil; The Country Shows It Can Pull off a Global Sporting Event, but It Still Has Deep Domestic Problems to Tackle.” Los Angeles Times, July 14, 2014. Accessed April 9, 2015. http://search.proquest.com/docview/1544718815?accountid=5771.

“Brazil World Cup 2014: A Look Inside Rio de Janeiro’s Mare Favela.” The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation [CBC], June 3, 2014. Accessed April 9, 2015. http://find.galegroup.com/gic/infomark.do?&source=gale&idigest=f6c0aa736056f5f1628830a6cbfabf1e&prodId=GIC&userGroupName=mlin_w_nthfield&tabID=T004&docId=A370033912&type=retrieve&PDFRange=[]&contentSet=IAC-Documents&version=1.0.

Gaffney, Christopher. “Securing the Olympic City.” Georgetown Journal of International Affairs 13, no. 2 (July 01, 2012): 75‒82. Accessed April 10, 2015. http:// www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/43134237?ref=no-x-route:cc637405bcaf47ae4c49ebc0cc768f50.

He, Tianhao. “Urban Brazil: An Olympic Opportunity.” Harvard International Review 34, no. 2 (2012): 9‒10. Accessed April 9, 2015. http://search.proquest.com/ docview/1470956487?accountid=5771.

“High Cash Settlements for Favela Families Forced Out by Olympic Building Work.” The London Evening Standard [London, England], February 2, 2015.

Accessed April 11, 2015. http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/ovic/NewsDetailsPage/ NewsDetailsWindow?failOverType=&query=&prodId=OVIC&windowstate=normal&contentModules=&display-query=&mode=view&displayGroupName=News&limiter=&currPage=&disableHighlighting=false&display-

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Groups=&sortBy=&search_within_results=&p=OVIC&action=e&catId=&activityType=&scanId=&documentId=GALE|A399764996&source=Bookmark&u=mlin_w_nthfield&jsid=29eb23fe18a4a7c47965bdba0cdb8514.

“An Interview with Javier Escudero.” Interview by author. April 1, 2015.

Isacson, Adam. “Rio de Janeiro’s Pacification Program.” Washington Office on Latin America. Accessed April 10, 2015. http://www.wola.org/rio_de_janeiro_s_pacification_program.

O’Hare, Greg. “Urban Renaissance: New Horizons for Rio’s Favelas.” Geography 86, no. 1 (January 01, 2001): 61‒75. Accessed April 13, 2015. http://www.jstor.org/ stable/10.2307/40573508?ref=no-x-route:01b21aaa7eed38cac828a2b92d4d8285.

“Plans for Rio Favelas to Get Facelift | The Rio Times | Brazil News.” The Rio Times. December 14, 2010. Accessed April 09, 2015. http://riotimesonline.com/ brazil-news/rio-politics/plans-for-rio-favelas-to-get-facelift/#.

“Raid in Rio.” Current Events, a Weekly Reader Publication, December 5, 2011, 3.

Accessed April 9, 2015. http://find.galegroup.com/gic/infomark.do?&source=gale&idigest=f6c0aa736056f5f1628830a6cbfabf1e&prodId=GIC&userGroupName=mlin_w_nthfield&tabID=T003&docId=A275312103&type=retrieve&PDFRange=[]&contentSet=IAC-Documents&version=1.0.

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www.nmhschool.org

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