Response: Saboteur

This is a very ironic story in which Mr. Chiu experiences injustice within the Chinese government and reacts in the only way that he knows how. He is wronged by police (government officials) and is forced into a moral dilemma in order to regain his freedom. This story has a lot to say about injustice in the world and how people are often forced to deal with it.
When I asked myself what this story was about, I came to the conclusion that it is ultimately about a cycle of injustice. I have always been incredibly bothered by stories of injustice, so reading this story got me fired up. I was very upset that the police treated this man the way that they did, despite my lack of jovial feelings towards Mr. Chiu. He wasn't a likable character as introduced in the story. The fact that he saw a honeymoon as an obligation and was happy to be through with it did not make me fond of him. I suppose that some of this could be attributed to the culture, but it was nonetheless a little bit disturbing. So despite his unlikable characteristics, I was still upset by the police and their actions. I was also upset by the way the prison keepers treated him. I thought that their characters represented the corrupting nature of power in a couple of ways. They were given a little bit of power within the system and they used it to exploit an innocent man. Then they used that same power to harm another innocent man. They were put in charge of very little so they used the power that they did have to harm others and make themselves feel more important.
I had a hard time reading the story when it got to the part about the lawyer and Mr. Chiu's decision to either lie and accept responsibility for the crime, in turn setting himself and the lawyer free, or to stick to his guns and remain in prison and take the lawyer's life as well. I was pleased, however, to see that Mr. Chiu chose the first option. He stopped the cycle of injustice (momentarily, as we will see) by accepting blame for something that he did not do. He showed compassion to his lawyer student and was humble enough to plead guilty for a ridiculous crime. This was encouraging to me, and made me think that the story might be describing the human condition in a more positive light. However, this wasn't the case.
When Mr. Chiu is freed from prison with the lawyer, he is not satisfied with his freedom as recompense for his time in prison and the injustice which he experienced. Instead, he knows that his body is ridden with illness and he chooses to spread that illness all over the town. Many people die from hepatitis after he goes on his dining spree, and this is where the cycle of injustice continues. The people that died were most likely in no way related to the corrupt prison keepers, yet they suffered.
After reading this story I began to question whether or not injustice and cruelty to each other is truly a cycle, or if the story is simply portraying it as such. I came to the conclusion that I think that we face a series of choices each day that can either help or harm others whether directly or indirectly and we need to be careful how we choose.