
What would you sacrifice your life for? Could it be money, family, or maybe even freedom? On June 5th, 1989, a famous photograph was taken in Tiananmen Square in Beijing China. The picture depicts a man standing in front of five tanks. The setting is in the Chinese district of Dongcheng in the city of Beijing. At the time, hundreds and thousands of college students were protesting for democracy because of the terrible situation in China. Government officials as well as the military tried to cover up the iconic “Tank Man” picture, however it failed because the image became evidence of the peaceful democratic protests that were happening at the time (Stone). The photograph taken by Stuart Franklin emphasizes the bravery of the unknown protestor who faced five tanks during the Tiananmen Square Massacre as well as the impact this event had on The People’s Republic of China. 

A tank is a heavily armored war machine that can cause mass amounts of destruction. In the picture below there are five tanks lining up in front of a grown man holding shopping bags in his hands. The tanks symbolize the war zone at the time. The juxtaposition of the tanks and the man insinuated that the demonstrator was going to be killed easily. Stuart Franklin captures the image of the unknown protestor on the street from the fifth floor of his hotel (Witty). At the time the military was invading the Tiananmen Square. This means that the man was in extreme danger. The photograph shows an empty Chinese street; one man, five tanks, and a burned down bus. The night before the bus was burned down during the protests at the Square (Stone). The man was in an extremely hostile environment yet that doesn’t stop him from defying the tanks. The image demonstrates the bravery of the unknown protestor. The man carried two shopping bags as if he was going win the battle against five war machines. This moment of courageous behavior will impact China long after the Massacre.

The People’s Republic of China is a communist state. The government has immense control over its people. During the Tiananmen Square Massacre, tons of peaceful demonstrators were brutally murdered by the military. In the photograph it is clear that on the left side of the image there are dark shadows (Franklin). The shadows are similar to storm clouds. It can be related to the future of China after the protests. The People’s Republic used many methods to try to cover up the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Stuart Franklin recalls how hard the Chinese officials worked hard to obscure evidence of the massacre. An example of this would be how “The film was smuggled out in a packet of tea by a French student and delivered to the Magnum office in Paris” (Witty). The government however failed to stop the photograph from being publicized on major newspapers. This impacted China’s reputation negatively. A country who murders its own citizens is an awful one. The publications of the photograph were a great way the media got the word out on China’s incident. The image itself produces the emotion the Chinese people felt during the demonstration and uprising. The willingness to sacrifice oneself for a simple concept like freedom that Americans are born with puts into perspective how the immense impact the picture produced.

The late 1980’s were not great for China. They suffered through a terrible event that included a large number of dead citizens. The peaceful democratic movement was crushed by the Chinese military. Stuart Franklin’s photograph is essentially a painting of the terrible fate of an extremely brave demonstrator during the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Even though the government tried to cover up this event that negatively impacted China, they failed because of powerful image taken by Franklin.
