Saturday, July 12, 2014

Whom does Ha Jin agree with, the narrator or the law system?

"Saboteur" is a short story by Chinese-American writer Ha Jin. The majority of the story is told in the perspective of the protagonist, Chiu Muguang, a professor in Harbin. The rest of the narrative is told in the perspective of Chiu's student, Fenjin. The fact that Ha Jin decided to tell the story through the point of view of the narrator shows that Jin sympathizes with Chiu.
More importantly, the character of Chiu is the "mouthpiece" of the author, which relays his criticism of China's corrupt police force and justice system. The story is an indictment of the systemic corruption in mainland China, from the police force and judicial system to the core government itself. Through the narrator's details of torture, injustice, and government corruption, the readers are conditioned to empathize with Chiu's final act of revenge.

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