Ha Jin Book Reflection

The book begins with the main character (Shao hive away) being introduced. From there, we absorb to learn active his life as a worker and how he wants to upgrade his living situation for him and his wife. When his request is denied, he decides to do slightlywhat melt offg to the highest degree it. He uses calligraphy as a form of propaganda. When one of his drawings wipeouts up in a newspaper, things start to go s extincth. The people who are in charge of bin and the other workers ( music director Ma and Liu) fix come come protrude of the closet active it and publicly humiliate him. To counter their attack, Bin accuses one of them of having an affair with a woman who he saw in their office.This fires ein truthone up and madness ensues. I feel like the issues being discussed in this book are very important, besides the contents of this book are non very exciting. The attention-grabbing moments are few and far between, which is unfortunate because theyre what I look fo r when Im reading a book. Overall, this novel is quite dull. I find Jins style of writing a molybdenum underwhelming and I call that he didnt include the unnecessarily irksome parts in the novel such as descriptions of meals that Bin enjoys. The main theme that I noticed during the inaugural region of In the Pond is an opposition to foul Chinese ways.Ha Jin uses the character Shao Bin to stand up and fence for what he thinks is near. there were several parts of this section that stuck out to me. Here are a few examples Even though he couldnt limit the leading wrongdoing, he wanted to teach them an unforgettable less(prenominal)on and show them that he wouldnt swallow an offense. But what should he do? He remembered that the cautious thinker Wang Chong of the Han Dynasty had said something more or less punishing the evil with the writing cross. This is where the building block book basically begins. It is the time when Shao Bin gets the inspiration to stick up for him self.Who are the masters of this plant? The workers or the two invalidate leaders? Where is their communist conscience? (Page 22) When reading In the Pond, this part of Bins garner stuck out to me because he really questioned his conditions instead of staying miserable. This is also a part of the theme, which becomes rather unmistakable during this passage. The workers heard of Bins disrupting the election, and they were impressed. They had interpreted him for a mere bookworm, just now all of a sudden he had emerged as a man of both strategy and action. Naturally some young workers shook hands with him. (Page 47)I appreciated the fact that Bins coworkers stood by him and supported him instead of apparently shying away and ignoring their problems. The whole accompanying made them gain respect for Shao Bin which is really unique because if I were in their shoes, I would probably to avoid conflict by simply ignoring the whole ordeal. PART 2 This section starts out with Bin libe ration to talk to Director Ma. When he gets to his office, Liu is there and denies his request for a promotion, stating that he would rather let Bins talents rot. This infuriates Shao and he storms out.Later on, he meets waste who he instantly befriends over discussions of art. Yen is an amateur, yet they still bond certificate and gain mutual respect for each other. Yen then dialogue to the leaders and asks them to be kinder to Bin. After this, the leaders tell Shao to look for a job elsewhere because they intend on firing him. Yen finds out what happened and is infuriated. Bin then gets a letter from Gold Countys cultural Center which states that they would like to utilize his talents for a year. He accepts and starts the job transport after getting into a fight with the directors.Later on, Bin signs up for exams and is scoffed at by Liu and Ma. He reduces the series of tests at a middle school. speedily after theyre over, Bins wife shows him a letter from a professor who loved his work. Following a long peak of dull events, another scandal emerges after Liu is bitten in the butt by Bin. The attack was provoked, but still Shao got the short end of the stick and was tough badly afterwards. The central theme is still clear during this section. Bin tries to fight the corruption that he witnesses daily.He uses calligraphy as a powerful fauna against it This book has really opened my eyeball to the communism in China. It inspire me to read further into it and what I stupefy found has shocked me. though I still dont really enjoy In the Pond, I concur conditioned quite a bit from it. The passages that stuck out to me in section 2 Do not worry about having no friend on the road under promised land who has not heard of your name? (Page 68) This part stood out not because of its relevance to the story, but because of the way that the author constructed the dialogue.I found it interesting that instead of simply verbalism who hasnt heard of your name? he said Under heaven who has not heard of your name? I appreciated the eloquence of this part. Bin couldnt help smiling his tears fell on the thin paper. Theyre going to accept me. He-he-he, they accept me he cried out, and held his wife up by the waist, swinging her around. One of her flying heels scraped Shanshans shoulder and knocked her down. (Page 87) This sprightly occasion was a highlight of section 2. It was nice for Shao Bin to lastly have something positive happen to him.The photograph taken, Liu buckled up his pants and followed Jia out of the studio. The girl looked at him with a knowing smirk on her face, her eyes rolling. Liu smiled back, then turned to the photographer. Old Jia, can you make it express? I need five pictures as curtly as possible. (Page 97) The fact that Director Liu actually went and had a picture of his butt taken was a bit too much. Part 3 The last part of the book moves beauteous fast. Liu is accused of having a relationship with Nina and Bin begins to respect Song less because of the way he handled a painting.Songs report came out soon after and Bin was satisfied with the finished product. I feel section 3 of the book is full of a lot of pointless anecdotes, but in the end the novel wasnt that bad. It had its moments of excitement, but it also had its moments of boring nonsense. I would give In the Pond a solid 6. In the end, I was relieved to have finished the novel for many reasons. For one, the finish was pretty great. Also, the book dragged a lot and I felt tire most of the time. The passages that I felt were importantAgainst the current you must quid hard one stroke skipped, you fall back many a yard. The ancients said every minute was gold So, cherish your time and have it controlled. (Page 162) Shao Bin remembers this poem about the methodology of study after he struggles with his art. I feel like this poem is quite inspirational, which is the reason it stood out to me. It basically tells the reader to h ave it off life to the fullest. After biting his fingertips for a few moments, he decided to engrave Tu Fus line Your brush writes, raising wind and rain. It seemed no words were more appropriate as a compliment to Jiangs uncle. (Page 140) This part is taken from when Bin is hard to decide what to carve onto the jade stone for Jiangs uncle. This quotation is inspiring. It states that you have the ability to change things that you arent happy with. The theme is very evident in this passage. On his way to the Commune Administration, he couldnt remain firm smiling and whistling. In the sky a flock of geese were drifting conspiracy and gradually merging into the cotton clouds. Joyously Bin stretched up his right arm, as if he too had wings. (Page 178)This was a great way to end the book. By comparing Bins freedom to the flight of a bird, Jin successfully tied up the story and left me satisfied with the end. Reilly Davidson magisterial 2, 2013 Summer Reading 2013 In the Pond by Ha J in Honors grant In China, for most of the population, these fault lines the immediate causes of public dissatisfaction relate not only to vague yearnings for democracy but, more importantly, to profound economic frustrations and churn up over social inequities and corruption. (Nicholas D. Kristof of The rising York Times).This was taken from an article about the rebellion against Chinese leaders in 1989. It is applicable to the central theme verbalized in both the novel and this news article. Its an opposition to some form of Chinese ruling. In both situations, those who were against it took a stand and fought for what is/was right. The New York Times published a story many years agone entitled CHINA ERUPTS THE REASON WHY. Its basically about the people of China who were thirsty for change in the spring of 1989. There were many rebels who stuck up for the cause that they placed great importance on.but galvanizing all of China with their threat to kill themselves rather than live without democracy (excerpt from the article). This passage was important because it clearly states how important it was for the rebels to fight for their beliefs. Ha Jin attempts to share his thoughts about Chinese control by writing In the Pond. The main character (Shao Bin) was basically a tool to bring about the questions of What would happen if we all stood up for what we believe in? and How can we take a stand for justice? He speakes these two points within the first ten pages. the true scholars brush must advance good and warn against evil (Page 8) This passage from the novel was a name from Wang Chong, who I believe was a Chinese philosopher during the Han Dynasty. Its an amazing imagination to start the book off with such powerful words. Ha Jin include this as an important inspiration for the character Shao Bin. It leads him to speak out against the unfair ways of his supervisors. As an artist and scholar I ought to expose those corrupt leaders A good piece of wo rk should be as lethal as a dagger to evildoers. These words fuel Bin throughout the full(a) novel. They are the match that lights the flame.Jin tactfully placed them in the beginning as a form of foreshadowing the theme of the entire novel. The theme that also applies to the aforementioned news article. Both pieces of literature address topics of sticking up for oneself and not letting dreams get crushed because of nightspots ways. This theme is incredibly important and can be learned from in future situations. All in all, it is pretty evident that there are many people who feel that the situation with the democracy in China is unsatisfactory. The theme in both the news article and In the Pond is clear and is seemingly something good to learn from.