"Saboteur"

“Saboteur”

Ha Jin

           

            “’Hooligan!’ she said in a low voice.

            Mr. Chiu got to his feet and said out loud, ‘Comrade policeman, why did you do this?’ He stretched out his right foot to show the wet sandal.

            ‘Do what?’ the stout man asked huskily, glaring at Mr. Chiu while the young fellow was whistling.

            ‘See, you dumped water on our feet.’

            ‘You’re lying. You wet your shoes yourself.’

            ‘Comrade policeman, your duty is to keep order, but you purposely tortured us common citizens. Why violate the law you are supposed to enforce?’ As Mr. Chiu was speaking, dozens of people began gathering around.” (272).

            My interpretation of this story is that the author is exploring the consequences of speaking out against injustice. Before explaining my interpretation, it is necessary to describe the historical and political context of the setting. This story takes place in a fictional city in China following the Cultural Revolution. This revolution was a movement to restore Communist ideals and Maoist thoughts and to destroy all remnants of capitalist and traditional ideals. As a result of this setting, the police force discriminate against Mr. Chiu for valuing Communist ideals.

            This poster is an advertisement for the Maoist government. Mao Zedong is in the center standing above soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army. The caption reads, “The Chinese People’s Liberation Army is the great school of Mao Zedong thought.”

 (Wikipedia)

            In this first exchange between Mr. Chiu and the policeman, the policeman abuses his authority and tosses tea on Mr. Chiu and his wife. In this situation the police represent those who spoke out against communism—the capitalists. Communist values threaten the police force because under communist reign, they would not have any authority. If the police force were seen as comrades—equal citizens to everybody else—they would have no authority to keep order. The policeman abuses his authority to exert his power over the rest of the citizens when he tosses the tea and blames Mr. Chiu. He knows that it is his word against Mr. Chiu’s and politically, his word has higher value because nobody will speak out against him. At the police station after his arrest, the police neglect his request for medical attention and refuse to listen to his story. Throughout the rest of the story, the rest of the police force shows some prejudice towards Mr. Chiu because of his elevated social status and because of his political status.

            Mr. Chiu is a highly regarded in both social and political spheres. His education and occupation as a philosopher and an educator elevates him above a lot of the population. However, he is a communist. The word ‘comrade’ in this scene is very important. Mr. Chiu uses this word when speaking to the policeman to show that they are equals and that this situation can be easily resolved. Instead, the policeman is only further enraged because he does not see himself as an equal to a scholar from the countryside.

            I’m not sure what to make of the dozen or so people that gather around these two men in the scene. They seem to be curious about the situation and what is happening, yet they do nothing in favor or in contempt of either of the characters. They seem to have a choral element about them but their opinions are never expressed. Which side are they on?