The Theme of Corruption in Ha Jins Saboteur - Essay Example

A Look into the Theme of Corruption in Ha Jin’s Saboteur

Saboteur is a short story by Ha Jin, and it is exceptional for the easiness it shows in portraying how corruption can turn even innocent and law-abiding citizens into extremists. In the story, the protagonist, named Mr. Chiu, a university lecturer, and known philosopher, is bullied by two policemen as he has food with his bride at a railway station. As Chui protests, he is forcefully arrested by the policemen and is detained for days. He is unable to believe that a system that promised to make all people be treated equally has ruined into such a pathetic situation.

Though the police promise to free him if he admits that he has committed a mistake and that he apologizes, he refuses to do so. This results in his torture in the police station despite his ill health. Finally, with no other way out, Chui decides to admit the allegations and comes out of the jail. The flagrant violation of his human rights and the apparent corruption in the public administration destroy his morale, and he spreads his illness in the area by consuming food from different restaurants.

The story by Ha Jin reminds one of the famous saying by Friedrich Nietzsche that one who fights monsters should be careful to avoid becoming a monster oneself. A look into the story reveals that this is exactly what happens with the protagonist Mr. Chiu in the story by Ha. From his communication and thoughts initially, it is clear that he is a law-abiding citizen who believed in revolution and is a great fan of communist ideologies. Therefore, Chui believes in equality and does not believe that somebody in power has the right to misuse it.

One can guess that it is this decency inherent in his nature that quickly infuriates Mr. Chiu as he sees the policeman misusing his power. It is this basic quality along with his strong belief in the public justice system that makes him claim that it is the police who owe an apology for treating him badly.

However, as the story progresses, one can see a gradual change in his attitude and thinking as he slowly digests the reality that the system that he loved so much is, in fact, corrupt from top to bottom. Initially, Chui is angry at the policemen as he believes he will be able to convince the higher authorities that he is innocent and that the policemen deserve punishment. However, as the senior police officials refuse to listen to his arguments and decide to turn a blind eye towards his arguments, his anger and desire for revolution give way to haplessness.

The story reminds us that this helplessness is dangerous because the pent up anger tries other ways of expression, which are often more dangerous. In the case of the protagonist Mr. Chiu, anger “was flaming up in his chest” (Ha 354), and he finds a novel way of venting out his anger by killing others who are innocent by spreading his hepatitis disease.

This story by Ha is to be understood by the reader in its historical background to draw the right meaning. The story takes the reader to the time period since the Cultural Revolution in China when great leaders like Mao Zedong asked youngsters to join the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and tried to ensure that the opponents are eliminated. This period witnessed the torturing and killing of so many citizens who dared to speak against the communist government’s violation of democratic rights. The conflict did not easily die down with more and more citizens, especially students, coming out openly against the government’s attack on human rights (“Cultural Revolution”).

The author, Ha, was a volunteer for the People’s Liberation Army at that time and witnessed how so many civilians were tortured in the name of this Cultural Revolution. A typical example of this silencing is the Tiananmen Square massacre in which a large number of students and other pro-democratic activists were massacred by the military and police as a way to silence the protest. Ha was a person who witnessed all these atrocities, and it is his thoughts and emotions that are expressed by the protagonist Mr. Chiu in the story.

The protagonist in the story, Mr. Chiu, reminds the reader of the famous “Tiananmen Square Tank Man”. On June 5, 1989, a man stopped a column of military tanks by blocking their way, and this picture became a symbol of the courage for fighting for rights (“Ha Jin”). In fact, it is only reasonable to believe that Mr. Chiu in the story stands to symbolize the “Tank Man”. The first reason to believe this comes from the fact that Chui tries to stay strong despite the threats and torture. Like the man who is not frightened by the military tanks that could run over him in seconds or could shoot him down in no time, Mr. Chiu believes in his principles and is willing to go any extent to show that his claims are right.

However, Ha manages to draw parallels between corruption and disease. The story shows that corruption is something that can easily spread to every sphere of administration like a communicable disease. When Mr. Chiu notices that the policemen are corrupt, he still holds the belief that the higher officials at the police headquarters will not be so. However, as Mr. Chui reaches the police station, he realizes with dismay that the officers there too are amoral.

When he threatens the police officers that they will be held answerable at the supreme court, they say that their position will easily win the case. Thus, Ha beautifully portrays the way this malpractice rots every sphere of public administration and shows how it denies justice to common men. In the same way, Mr. Chiu spreads the hepatitis disease to many people in no time.

Another important element that deserves attention from the reader is the way the story shows how a corrupt system can portray some people as extremists and terrorists by hiding the true story. In the story, Mr. Chiu is a law-abiding and intelligent human being. However, his every effort to have justice done is defeated and is tortured for fighting for truth. Ultimately, as the protagonist Chui realizes that there is no way justice can prevail, he decides to revenge.

This makes his student Fenjin feel that his teacher, Chui, is “ferocious” and “ugly” (Ha 355). This way, Ha points out that a corrupt government can deny people their right to listen to and be reasonably treated, and when such people resort to violence when their rightful claims are denied, they can be portrayed as anti-nationals, extremists, or terrorists. Thus, instead of sticking on to a theme that is relevant only in the Chinese context of that particular time, the story presents a theme that is relevant in many countries in the present-day world where protests are suppressed for various reasons, for example, by calling them anti-nationals.

Thus, the story shows the reader how corruption makes event decent people like Chui behave violently and how everyone comes under its influence. While the perpetrators behave violently as a way to suppress those who raise their voices against it, the victims are forced to resort to violence to get justice or to revenge for the loss they suffer. In this way, nobody has escape when a system is unprincipled.

To conclude, Ha Jin’s Saboteur is a story that goes beyond a quick reading. Though the first instinct of a reader will be to consider the protagonist Mr. Chiu as the saboteur, the reality is that he is made a saboteur by the circumstances, and his attempt to try sabotage arises from the fact that all his peaceful attempts to have his voice are denied. Here, Ha tries to tell the reader, though indirectly, that the true saboteur is corruption. Thus, the theme of corruption in Ha Jin’s Saboteur shows how corruption manages to escape by portraying those who oppose it as saboteurs.