Harlequin!

So I did not like this story at all. I got really confused with the writer going back and forth through time. I think the Ticktockman is a bad character. I understand that it is fictional story, but I just could not get my imagination to work with me on this one.

Harrison Bergeron!

So...this story was goofy. All of the chains and ear plugs and dancing ballerinas, it was so silly. The idea of how in 2081 everyone will be equal in every possible way. Intelligence and beauty is all monitored. I was glad when Harrison escaped from jail and rebelled against the government but when he died and his own mother could not remember that her son had just been shot, I mean seriously it was the saddest thing. I think this story would have been more interesting to me had I read it 50 years ago.

Saboteur Post!

I enjoyed this little story. I cannot say that I like Mr. Chiu ultimate decision to sign the false statement the police offered, but were I in his position I couldn't say I would not have done the exact same thing. I think he chose wisely to "go with the flow" so to speak, because had he continued to argue his case Mr. Chiu probably would have died in that jail cell. What a hard choice to make. Choosing freedom over truth and justice. I think he is a brave man for even putting up the fight he did. I especially like the ending, where Mr. Chiu and the lawyer friend got away happy ever after leaving the poor town of Muji with a terrible hepatitis epidemic going on. I have not figured out what underlying meaning the author, Ha Jin, had planned while writing Saboteur but i am thinking a possiblity of something like karma? or maybe payback is hell?