Saboteur

Saboteur
Ha Jin, 1996

"If he were able to, he would have razed 
the entire police station and eliminated all their families. Though he 
knew he could do nothing like that, he made up his mind to do 
something." - page 279

This statement foreshadows the coming crime that we are led to believe Mr. Chiu commits.  The obvious irony is that Mr. Chiu is unjustly arrested for a crime he did not commit, and the resulting experience drives him to actually commit a crime.  Jin seems to be making the statement that injustice is cyclic, breeding more injustice by converting innocence into revenge.  I don't know much about Ha Jin, but he seems to have some experience with police brutality, or at least corrupt lawmen.
The writing style in the story is incredibly interesting, for the most part flat and critical.  The author doesn't favor Mr. Chiu, or the policeman.  Additionally, it is not completely unbiased.  In both the description of Mr. Chiu and the policeman, there is a critical air.  Negative adjectives are used constantly, and when they are not there is no real hopeful tone.  In fact, the only "happy" scene is when Mr. Chiu briefly comes to terms with his captivity and becomes calm.

I find this by far the most interesting scene.  It's kind of like the turning point, the exact middle of Mr. Chiu's decline in sanity.  He's hasn't completely succumbed to his hepatitis and spite, but is not unaffected.  In this intermediate state, he realizes how he is actually enjoying time away from his wife, from the honeymoon he seemed to not have enjoyed.

In that way, his arrest almost gave his life meaning.  He almost hadn't realized how unsatisfied and bored he was until he was locked in a cell slowly being overcome with vengeful thoughts.  In the beginning, he eats slow.  By the end, he is running from restaurant to restaurant speedily trying to consume everything he can like a wildfire.

Not sure what to make of this story, but it's cool.