SABOTEUR Ha Jin’s Saboteur describes the injustice of government authorized officers taking place in China. Mr.Chiu being the one facing the injustice have been portrayed as a very sensitive man since later he takes revenge. The setting of the story often tells us why the characters behave in a certain way. In the story since Mr.Chiu was not in his own place rather he was with his wife for honeymoon in a foreign land which influenced his behavior in the story. Using a controlled and direct writing style Ha Jin have helped the readers to understand the theme of his short story more precisely. At the same time symbolisms used in the story conveys a direct approach to the theme. “In the center of the square stood a concrete statue of Chairman Mao, at whose feet peasants were napping with their backs on the warm granite and with their faces toward the sunny sky. A flock of pigeons perched on the chairman’s raised hand and forearm”, there are three symbolisms in these lines. First is the statue of Chairman Mao situated in the center of the city symbolizing the beliefs of Chinese people in communism. The second one is the pigeons sitting on the raised hand of the statue symbolizing the peace due to communism in China. The peasants …show more content…
In the beginning of the story where Mr.Chiu being a man full of values and respect towards the government who is also a member of communist party, someone who believed injustice is never in his way, have been unjustifiably arrested for a crime which he never did only because the officers had the right to do literally anything they wanted. This situation directly refers to the theme as government is being unfair towards Mr. Chiu. Later Ha Jin develops the theme by giving another instance where Mr.Chiu is forcibly accepting all the accusations under the fear of the officers, where again his rights have been taken away from
“Saboteur”, written by Ha Jin exposes a difficult period in post-revolutionary China and the negative consequences on people’s lives. Mr. Chiu, a scholar who does not view himself as a common citizen, was wrongfully arrested while on honeymoon with his bride. As an egotistical man who thinks he is above everyone else, Mr. Chiu is arrogant and never takes ownership for his actions. This machoism subjects Mr. Chui to maltreatment from the police that ironically transforms the once seemingly innocent Mr. Chiu to a man consumed by vengeance. Ha Jin’s proficient use of ironic tone and conflict told through the omniscient view of his main character reinforces the story’s main theme: life experiences shape our character and have the power to transform us into a person we despise.
Mao Zedong, China’s Communist leader at the time, launched the revolution in order to reassure his authority over the Chinese government. At this time, all citizens were supposed to be equal. Nonetheless, a portion of police officers did not treat every citizen equally. Mr. Chiu is a communist party member because of this, two police officers treat him unjustly. “Saboteur” is also a story of a newlywed couple.
Since Hsun-ching lived through China’s cultural revolution, his everyday life was a political issue. One prominent part of his story was his ordeal with the Red Guard. Although Salzman did not go into an extremely detailed description of Hsun-ching’s time with the Red Soldiers, he made the Cultural Revolution’s terrifying effect on China obvious. “In the week he had spent with Li and his followers, he had seen them drag teachers out of school and beat them mercilessly for no reason at all… The pheasants in that commune are starving largely because of the madness created by the Red Guards.”
Xiong uses battles, executions, assassinations, and scandals to appeal to readers of any genre. Once a reader gets into the book they are hooked in the epic events of the book and the deep look into the ruling class. Unfortunately, Xiong’s novel might somewhat difficult to get into for many readers with no experience in Chinese history. Xiong also attempts to utilize dialogue that often comes off as underdeveloped or simplistic.
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, written by Dai Sijie, is set in 1971 during the China’s Cultural Revolution. The book starts with two boys, unnamed narrator and his friend Luo being sent from their hometown Chengdu to a small village in Phoenix Mountain to be “re-educated”. The book continues with them skillfully living through the harsh village life with their talent of storytelling and their western knowledge gained from books. Throughout the novel Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, Dai Sijie illustrates different types of literature and how it transforms the character’s life, action and their personalities in both good and bad way. This book is one unique novel about two boys and one little girl’s transformation by the magical
The novel Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress is a novel by Dai Sijie set during the Cultural Revolution in China which lasted from 1966 until 1976. Even though the author’s main focus is not opposing Mao’s rule, acts of oppression and the strict control practiced by the government can often be observed in the book. The author focuses on the process of re-education which includes sending urban youth to rural areas. Sijie depicts the mental and physical development of two boys who are being re-educated on the Phoenix Mountain of the Sky. The novel Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress challenges the concept of re-education and the aspects of the Chinese government by contrasting the Communist ideology to the dynamic character of the narrator, by using symbolism to complement the transformation of the major characters and by including the picaresque story of the Little Seamstress narrated by herself.
Chiu, who is a man on a very high horse. He is a man that is notably higher up in the social class of communist China. He is an educated man working for Harbin University. If Mr. Chiu feels his superiority is being disrespected, he will lash out. Throughout “Saboteur”
Have you ever wanted to live forever? In 2BRO2B it is possible. Edward k. Wehling Jr. is waiting for his wife to give birth to triplets. In the waiting room a painter is creating a portrait. As he is painting a woman’s face onto a person Dr. Hitz talks to Mr. Wehling about his children.
On the other hand, it leaves a kind of profound thinking about the typical ordinary Chinese ideology and how great is the impact of such a decision on people’s
Its influence derives from characters who depend on materialistic values to display prosperity, maintain power and stay healthy. Huong uses the characters’ meals to emphasize the conditions in which different echelons of society are forced to live and to portray the contrast in the character 's’ life styles. The authors first use of this representation is directed towards families who are at the bottom of the hierarchy and the characters financial struggles are illustrated through the quality of their food. For instance, when Chinh becomes ill with diabetes, Que makes great sacrifices in order to provide him with food and medicine throughout his illness. Huong’s oddly detailed description about their rapidly declining food supply provides insight into the harsh living conditions.
In the short story ‘Saboteur’, the main character Mr. Chiu is exposed to abuse and injustice from the police and the government that transforms him into an “ugly man”, a characteristic that drastically opposes his kind, serene self presented at the beginning of the story. Set in one of the most active moments in Chinese history, the story starts off with a problem that results in Mr. Chiu getting arrested for being innocent. As the time passes, Mr. Chiu becomes more aggressive and exasperated, and in the end gets his revenge for all the time wasted and all the pain that the police put him and his loved ones through. When Mr. Chiu is first introduced to us, the writer Ha Jin describes his face as “sallow” and “shows exhaustion”, after his wife’s and his honeymoon. Despite his exhaustion, he asks: “ Are you all right, sweetheart” to his wife when he notices her pale complexion and her massaging the bridge of her nose.
Essay "The Sniper" by O’Flaherty Imagine yourself in a war fighting for what you believed was best for your people and your country. Imagine going to war, knowing that you might die today. Imagine the fear and tension surrounding you while you're being shot at. That’s what the story "The Sniper" by O’Flaherty is about. The story is about the individual’s personal cost in war.
“Power is one of the themes in Fuentes’ short story, “Chac-mool”. The symbolic use of water supports this theme as does the evolution of both characters, the Chac-mool and Filiberto.” While some think this statement is invalid, it is the complete opposite. For example, according to Fuentes, “At some times like a child, .. at others, nervous, to the point of declining into unintelligibility.” (Fuentes, p. 4)
Over and over again Youqing is let down because he allowed himself to hope for greatness; with sparrowcide, land reforms, and peoples communes, the Chinese peasantry hoped that they would be helped, because it is human nature. However, throughout Youqing’s youth the author uses a skeptical tone when describing the new policies enacted by the CCP, such as the peoples communes. At this point, Youqing’s family had been self-sufficient for years, and “naturally, Jiazhen was reluctant to see our five mu of land be returned,” and Fugui is even more reluctant to hand over all of their pots but he “figured there was no real way out,” (Yu 101). This use of language implies the authors disappointment in the rise of communism, and implies the negative effect it will have on the
Dai Sijie is the Chinese author, who opposites side of the government of China during the Cultural Revolution, which is his childhood that he has to go to be re-educated by poor peasants. The setting of this book, Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, is the re-education at that time, and the main characters of this book, Luo and Ma, are re-educated students like Sijie. He uses these literary elements to reveal political or social issues about the social class by the education difference, the area of living, and desire to read. In the Sijie’s book, the characters’ traits are used to explore the education difference because the villagers, who live in the Phoenix of Mountain, learn how they survive by farming and mining rather than reading and writing.