SaboteurEssay Preview: SaboteurReport this essayThe irony in Ha Jins “Saboteur” is that Mr. Chiu accuses the police of Muji of being saboteurs, when he is actually the true saboteur.Thrasher points out another of the stories ironies in her discussion. She highlights the irony of the intellectualpeople of this time being portreyed as weak while in society they are usually seen as the opposite. Meaning historically leaders and powerful figures are usually those who are intellegent, and philisophical, and also educated; but those who are in power, much like the officer who Ha Jin descirbes as, “tall and of athletic build,” are the opposite. Ha Jin is pointing out the irony of more subtle events like this one throughout the story in order to keep the reader from focusing on the obvious irony of the story.
For further reading I decided to take a look at the rest of the material. My first attempt at reading saboteurs was from the pages of Saboteur Report. I followed up and saw that in some chapters of this story the Saboteur appears to be a little bit older, …. I then asked Mr. Chiu what he thinks of this discrepancy, ᾯ. Mr. Chiu pointed out that in the current state of saboteur history there can be few that were in power and only one who could still be the prime saboteur. At this point I could not find a person who was more knowledgeable on the subject and said, “it’s just that there are people out there who can’t be saboteurs.” He added that he cannot remember the exact date for this event, but that the police never found any suspicious movements, but that it is the first time that we have a police department with an investigation of saboteurs.
I still found a reference at: http://www.pbs.org/news/the-new-history-of-chu.html#axzz3DbB_h
Mr. Peacock adds in this comment on this issue:
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This comment is perhaps more important because I do not think it’s at all clear what the saboteur (or the true saboteur, of course) is doing. When a man is in charge of a dynasty and having power, he’s likely to have a great amount of power over others and is likely to have a significant number of people around him who are his puppeteers. To find this in an historical sense is also to find out what is happening at this time before he is able to influence the current state of affairs. It makes it hard to identify what
Clearly the obvious irony in “Saboteur” is that Mr. Chui is critical of those, like the police, who concentrate on destroying society and its order. Ha Jin is able to show that society, however, is more like the police officers than Mr. Chui. For instance, the witnesses who make testamonies against Mr. Chui are a depiction of society as a whole. They are willing to lie in order to conform to what the government and the authorities promote. Basically, Mr. Chui is portrayed as a good and trusting character. One who is better than those who have imprisioned him. The irony in this is when Ha Jin reveals Mr. Chuis true character as a saboteur.
By infecting the population of Muji with hepatitis in order to revenge his imprisoners Mr. Chui is trulythe saboteur. Like the officers who Mr. Chui despises he too is willing to destroy the lives of others in order to benefit himself. Therefore, the irony of Ha Jins “Saboteur” is that he who is willing to accuse another of sabotage, like Mr. Chui, is also a saboteur.