Journal: The Cure Says Mo Yan, The Cure is a tale of cannibalism and cruelty, and these elements obviously

jump out at the reader (xviii). These elements are extremely obvious, so much so and in such painful detail that they are impossible to ignore. The cannibalism is most explicit as Father cuts out the gall bladders of Ma Kuisan and Luan Fengshan to feed them to Grandma but in a more figurative sense, the actions of Chief Zhang Qude against the citizens that as Chief of anything he should protect and care for are another type of cannibalism. Before the execution, Luan Fengshan pleads with Chief Zhang, We drew lots to see who would get the village head; I didnt want the job We drew lots; I got the short straw my bad luck (117). From this brief exposition, the reader understands that Chief Zhang chooses Luan Fengshan for the slaughter mainly because he covets the position of village leader and exercises what power he has in a barbaric way to obtain what he wants, a higher social status and with that better food. Cannibalism. The cruelty is even more widespread as Father subjects his son the narrator to the ordeal of hiding from the death squad and of watching and helping as his role model butchers and dissects people he very easily may have known. The white lie that Father tells to Grandma at the end to get her to drink the gall is a gentler cruelty but cruel nonetheless, an example of a morbid playfulness in Mo Yans writing as he turns such a gory happening into a play on words; Its gall from a ma [horse] and a luan (125). Most importantly in this piece is Mo Yans stylistic choice to make the trauma of this young narrator an audience participation show. The grisly detail he uses provides a gripping and visceral account that the reader sees quite clearly in his imagination and, ideally, is sickened by it.