Analysis of Ha Jin's Waiting - Essay Example

His novels were meant to highlight the political and social upheavals in the society, which he did by establishing metaphors and characters that demonstrated each and every facet of the society. His works has gone on to achieve high accolades and critical acclaim, as he has not only woven compelling storylines but he is also known to write about tabooed subjects such as the Korean War and the damage that was inflicted on to his country because of communism. Despite the fact that Ha Jin has long left his homeland for a more stable life in the United, he incorporates a major element of Chinese culture in his work; from characters to the phrases that he uses in his stories, he injects a bit of his homeland in all his stories.

The aforementioned elements will be evaluated by assessing them in the light of his novel “Waiting”. Ha Jin is also known to translate many Chinese proverbs into English; for instance, there is one instance in the book where he translated a famous proverb in the following words: “With money you can hire the devil to grind grain and cook dinner for you” (1999, p. 172). . cept, Ha Jin’s novel ‘Waiting’ tells the story of a man, named Lin Kong, who works as a doctor in a government Medical facility in a fictional city in China called Muji City.

He defers to his parents wish of marrying an ordinary peasant woman named Shuyu but the main conflict in high life arises when he is o tried hard to extricate himself out of a loveless marriage to marry his colleague; for years he waits. When he finally get to marry the woman he thought he love, he is struck with the realization that he doesn’t love her either and as a result springs back in to the same state that he had been in years. The novel Waiting encompasses intensely dark themes which are further emboldened by the fact that his protagonist is unable to feel actually feel strong emotions like love or passion.

This aspect reflects the suppression of the Chinese people in order to help them achieve their communist ideals. Ha Jin further emphasizes the establishment of patriarchy under the communist regime that further widened the divide between males and females in the society. Marriage was seen more as a necessity than a union of love that further stunted the society’s emotional growth. His novel waiting sheds great light on to the dynamics of the relationship that drastically changed as a result of the political ideology that it ingrained a sense of ambivalence amongst the people regarding love and passion.

In ‘Waiting’, the protagonist’s affections are quickly transferred to a young and intelligent nurse at his medical facility from a wife, who he married only to fulfill his parent’s wishes. He is mostly away from his wife to serve in a government medical facility and often becomes the prime subject of censure for platonic relationship with his nurse; which is not only