Reaction to "Saboteur"

Ha Jin’s “Saboteur” frustrated me. It seems like this power struggle occurs often in societies; people with authority, usually the police, seem to believe that they have much more power than the law actually grants them. When people are put in a position of power some, if not many, of them are bound to abuse it. I have seen the police exploit their power a number of times; give someone power to arrest, ruin reputations, and even lives, in addition to a weapon, and he is unstoppable. In America, society always tries to paint the police as great men who save the day and protect citizens, modern day real-live superheroes. Sometimes this is true, sometimes the police are far from valiant. While the police in the short story infuriate me, I was not actually surprised that they abuse their power and act rudely. That being said, it is the witnesses that bothered me the most. They immediately side with the police. I could not tell if this was out of fear that they would be arrested for lying, or if they simply believe what the cops told them and either intentionally, or unintentionally, fabricate stories that correspond with the polices’ lies. Whatever the reason, the fact that the police can force bystanders to lie about what they saw and let an innocent man go to jail is disgusting. At one point it even appears as if Mr. Chiu connects with one of the witnesses, a purchasing agent from one of the shipyards. Chiu Maguang was sabotaged by his own countrymen.

Mr. Chiu’s coping mechanism is definitely out of line; he has no right to infect innocent people. However, I can see where he is coming from, especially after the description of his horrible time in the jail. I think everyone knows what it feels like to be powerless in a situation. It is a classic story, even in elementary school. The teacher “knows” a student did something wrong and the student’s only option is to falsely admit to something he did not do; we read about this occurrence in “Eleven” early on this semester. It is infuriating, humiliating, and can be impossible to move past emotionally. Instead of breaking down and crying like Rachel in “Eleven,” Mr. Chiu retaliates against the townspeople. I have a strong need for retribution, despite how immature it may seem, and I believe that Mr. Chiu had every right to retaliate against the disgusting way that he was treated. However, killing innocent people with hepatitis is a horrible way to achieve vengeance. Mr. Chiu becomes the saboteur that the police claim that he is. Honestly, the police bring the illnesses down upon themselves, and deserve a large portion of the blame, even if they never know it.