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“As they were talking, the stout policeman at the next table stood up and threw a bowl of tea in their direction. Both Mr. Chiu’s and his bride’s sandals were wet instantly.”

This quote appears at the beginning of the story, and it is the catalyst that sparks the plot’s action. As Mr. Chiu and his bride enjoy a mundane meal on a lovely day on a brief pause from their journey, they are suddenly assaulted by a seemingly random stranger and shocked out of their reverie. The fact that it is not clear exactly why the policeman targets Mr. Chiu, that it was a seemingly random assault, makes the incident all the more disturbing. Everything that happens from that point on is, for the most part, beyond Mr. Chiu’s control. His boasts of innocence, betrayal, and equality among all citizens fall on deaf ears and take him along on a new journey of self-destruction.

“‘Comrade policeman, your duty is to keep order, but you purposely tortured us common citizens. Why violate the law you are supposed to enforce?’ As Mr. Chiu was speaking, dozens of people began gathering around. 

With a wave of his hand, the man said to the young fellow, ‘Let’s get hold of him!’”

This is the moment when Mr. Chiu’s trust in the law, in public institutions, and a sense of duty is rudely upended. It becomes very clear that the policemen will not answer to the law, or at least the law as it should be upheld and enforced. Mr. Chiu confronts the policemen and admonishes them for their behavior, trusting that their sense of law and public order will prevail. Meanwhile, a large crowd of people is starting to gather. Not one of them makes a move to assist Mr. Chiu, even though it is likely that some of them must have heard Mr. Chiu’s statements about the policemen torturing citizens. Some of these same people will probably provide the police with written statements indicating that Mr. Chiu was a saboteur and a public menace causing trouble in the square. The people’s compliance with the police, against Mr. Chiu, is evidence of the firm grip that the police and their corruption have on life in the town. 

“In his chest he felt as though there were a bomb. 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.”

Mr. Chiu has been contemplating revenge for some time before he is forced to sign the confession, but this is the moment in which he decides to put his desire for revenge into action. This moment also demonstrates how strong his built-up anger and rage are. Ha Jin uses very strong, violent words to describe these feelings, like a bomb in Mr. Chiu’s chest, or a desire to tear down the police station or to get rid of the policemen’s families. At this point, Mr. Chiu has abandoned any desire for civil discourse. He wants to see his tormentors suffer the way he has suffered. The language also strongly suggests that even though Mr. Chiu is not actually planning to destroy the police station with his own hands, he is planning a course of action that will cause harm to a lot of people. 

“Within a month over eight hundred people contracted acute hepatitis in Muji. Six died of the disease, including two children. Nobody knew how the epidemic had started.”

This quote encompasses the final paragraph of the story and serves as an epilogue to its events. Having been released from jail after his coerced confession, Mr. Chiu violently samples food from restaurants and cafes all within the vicinity of the police station. His actions, though never explicitly connected, are the implied catalyst behind the hepatitis outbreak described in this epilogue. By fervently sampling the nearby food in his manic state, Mr. Chiu effectively contaminates the area with the very hepatitis from which he has suffered. The fact that his imprisonment exacerbates his condition is all the more evidence of, and the driving force behind, Mr. Chiu’s final vengeful act.

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