Ha Jin  -  In the Pond

About In the Pond

For discussion: In the Pond

1. Ha Jin has chosen a quotation from Gogol's Dead Souls as the epigraph to In the Pond. In what sense is Shao Bin a rogue? In what sense, if any, is he a virtuous man?

    

2. What does the way Shao Bin handles his grievance against his superiors reveal about his character? He thinks to himself, "Who were Liu Shu and Ma Gong? Two small cadres with glib tongues, uncouth and unlettered. They were wine vessels and rice bags, their existence only burdening the earth, whereas he had read hundreds of books and was knowledgeable about strategies" [p. 35]. Do you consider him heroic and principled, or arrogant and foolish? Is he, on the basis of his talents and energies, truly deserving of a better position than he has?

    

3. In many ways this novel is about the workings of power and how people go about getting what they want. Given that the novel portrays a political system very different from our own, do you consider that issues of power and influence work differently in this novel than they do here in America, say, in a corporate setting?

    

4. If one of the purposes of art is to awaken people's minds and to change society, do you find it odd that artists are employed in this novel to create propaganda for the state? Would you consider this novel a satire? What would you guess is the author's perspective on the events of the novel, and on the communist system that he left behind?

    

5. What does Shao Bin's description of his ink stone [p. 64] tell us about him? Does his dedication to his art redeem the less positive aspects of his character?

    

6. There are several scenes, particularly in Chapter 9, in which physical brutality is used to comic effect. Why does Shao Bin engage in such behavior, in light of his feelings of superiority to Liu Shu and Ma Gong? To what purpose is Ha Jin using humor in this novel?

    

7. After creating one of his best drawings, Shao Bin realizes that "it was the misery and rage that had driven the brush to make such a breakthrough in his art. He realized anger was also a source of power, which the artist ought to convert into creative energy" [p. 122]. Is Shao Bin in fact saved by his anger? Have you ever come across other artists who have said similar things? Is this a universal phenomenon?

    

8. Are you surprised, given Shao Bin's abrasive personality, that he is embraced so readily by the friends of Yen Fu? Are you surprised that his cause is adopted by the journalists in Beijing? Why do you suppose this is?

    

9. Yen Fu calls attention to the novel's title when he wonders why Bin is working in the fertilizer plant: "How could a small pond like this contain such a big fish? He had vaguely heard that Bin was teaching the fine arts somewhere" [p. 63]. How does Ha Jin's choice of title affect your sense of the events that take place? Does the novel's ending change the meaning of "the pond"?

    

10. As Shao Bin prepares a letter of complaint to the Party secretary, "A strong sense of justice and civil duty rose in him. An upright man ought to plead in the name of the people. He believed he was going to voice not only his own discontent and indignation but also the oppressed brothers' and sisters'. Yes, he wanted to speak for all the workers in the plant" [p. 20]. How does the ending of the novel--the resolution of the plot's conflicts--resonate with these inspired thoughts? How does Ha Jin leave you feeling about his protagonist?

For discussion of the works of Ha Jin in general:

1. What do you notice about the way Ha Jin describes the physical details of everyday life, such as food, housing, clothing, and people's bodies? How does the material culture of these works differ from that of America? Do you feel that because Ha Jin is consciously writing for an American audience in his adopted country, such details have greater resonance?

    

2. Sometimes the power of Ha Jin's work comes from the juxtaposition of all-too-human characters with the lofty ideological task of social transformation they are expected to be engaged in; characters must continually be on the alert for symptoms in themselves and others of what are called, in the language of Marxism, "counterrevolutionary tendencies." In which stories and novels do you find self-interest, individual ambition, or the search for happiness--as opposed to selfless devotion to the communist ideology--causing particularly funny, or particularly sad, conflicts and situations?

    

3. How would you characterize the style of those works of his that you have read? Does it change from book to book, from story to story? What details and choices by the author contribute to the way the people and situations he has created come across to you? Are there moments when the writing is more spare, more lush, more descriptive, more terse? How is the realism of these works achieved?

    

4. In the preface to his first book of poetry, Between Silences: A Voice from China, Ha Jin wrote, "As a fortunate one I speak for those unfortunate people who suffered, endured, or perished at the bottom of life and who created the history and at the same time were fooled or ruined by it." Despite the facts that Ha Jin does not write in Chinese and that his books are not published in China, do you consider that he has been writing, in a sense, for those who remain? How does this quotation reflect on In the Pond (and any other works of his that you have read)?