Necessity in "Winds and Clouds Over a Funeral"
             Thesis: Instead, necessity may coerce an individual to take an action that reason demands; in other words, necessity might create opportunities. Ding Liang finds himself in such a situation, and the reason why his actions are admirable to the reader is that Ding finds opportunities and fortune in the necessity of the Communist political situation.
             Niccolo Machiavelli has said that necessity is a virtue. Necessity arises out of the political circumstances in which an individual finds himself; the hostile climate of a fascist government can force an idealistic member of the press corps to limit his speech, out of interest for his life or his family's future. Machiavelli believes that this force is a factor determining actions but outside of a person's control. However, in Machiavelli's view necessity is not just a hostile force that makes man's actions purely automatic. Instead, necessity may coerce an individual to take an action that reason demands; in other words, necessity might create opportunities. Ding Liang finds himself in such a situation, and the reason why his actions are admirable to the reader is that Ding finds opportunities and fortune in the necessity of the Communist political situation.
             Ding's mother is dying, and she pleads with her son to promise her that she will be buried in the ground. Ding finally assents, but he knows that "nowadays the government encouraged people to cremate the dead in order to preserve arable land" (Jin 46). He is aware of how the Communist Party stands on this issue, yet he allows his filial obligations to cloud his political judgment. When his mother dies, he begins preparations for the burial of his mother, buying a casket from the nearby Carpentry House. In the midst of these preparations, Huang Zhi (the vice-chairman of the commune) tells Ding about a Party meeting that he should a...