Saboteur - Ha Jin

Saboteur

Written by Ha Jin

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Saboteur is a story written with a clear purpose. It details the atrocities that befall the unfortunate Mr. Chiu, a lecturer at a nearby university. The entire story seemed to be an outcry against authority. The last paragraph of the story describes Mr. Chiu's act of vengeance resulting from his predicament; the most interesting part of the novel for me, I was left considering whether his action was justified.

Abuse of power

The fundamental plot of the story follows the policemen seriously abusing their power -- they know that they can do whatever they please, and they do so without remorse.  Mr. Chiu, an educated scholar, who was highly aware that the police were breaking the law and bullying innocent citizens, is highly perturbed by his wrongdoers actions:"Time and again he was overwhelmed by anger, cursing aloud, 'A bunch of thugs!' "

Vengeance

As I mentioned prior, Mr. Chiu did get his revenge on the police. The last paragraph of the story describes how he "dragged his lawyer from restaurant to restaurant near the police station, but at each place he ordered no more than two bowls of food ... ... While eating, he kept saying through his teeth, 'If only I could kill all the bastards!' " The author goes on to describe the epidemic of acute hepatitis that began to plague the vicinity within six months, clearly inferring that Mr. Chiu was the source.

Was Chiu justified in his revenge?

Personally, I was shocked by the ending. Though he is illustrated throughout the novel as a hateful and spiteful individual, he also is described as one who is able to remain calm despite his anger. A very educated man, I expected better morals of Chiu. Indeed, he and his lawyer were severely wronged by the barbaric policemen. Yet, that hardly gives Chiu the right to enact his revenge against the general public. There was nothing else he could do to get back at the police, save murdering them and landing himself in jail, but, in my opinion, that in no way justifies his actions against the community as a whole. As mentioned at the end of the story, "Six died of the disease, including two chuildren."

Thus, it is my opinion that this a story of revenge that instills poor ethics. I highly disagree with the morals that Saboteur infers in its message. Rather than acting on revenge when one is wronged, one should learn to cope with the wrongdoing in a more positive manner: forgiving and moving on.