Characters
This character, the protagonist, is a scholar wrongfully detained by the police.
Who is Mr. Chiu?
Mr. Chiu and his bride are eating lunch here when they are accosted by the police.
What is the square near Muji Train Station?
The story critiques this corrupt system through the abuse of power by local authorities.
What is the legal or judicial system?
The city where the events of the story take place.
What is Muji?
This object in Mr. Chiu’s cell represents surveillance and oppression.
What is the orange light bulb?
This young man, sent by Mr. Chiu's bride, is subjected to torture while attempting to secure Mr. Chiu’s release.
Who is Fenjin?
This item is ruined after the police dump tea on Mr. Chiu and his wife.
What are Mr. Chiu’s leather sandals?
Mr. Chiu’s retaliation highlights this theme, a response to injustice.
What is revenge?
This location, near Muji Train Station, is where Mr. Chiu is detained.
What is the Railroad Police Station?
Mr. Chiu’s liver, damaged by hepatitis, symbolizes this growing feeling.
What is anger or frustration?
This person is the newlywed bride of Mr. Chiu.
Who is Mrs. Chiu?
This document, forced upon Mr. Chiu, falsely describes his guilt.
What is a self-criticism?
The police’s disregard for the law contrasts with Mr. Chiu’s belief in this philosophical principle.
What is fairness or justice?
Mr. Chiu observes these objects outside his cell, which sway gently in the breeze.
What are swings?
These documents falsely accuse Mr. Chiu of shouting in the square.
What are witness statements?
This officer leads the police station’s Interrogation Bureau.
Who is the chief of the bureau?
Mr. Chiu demands this from the police, though he never receives it.
What is a letter of apology?
Mr. Chiu’s actions reveal the darker aspects of this personal emotion.
What is anger?
This statue, central to the square, represents Communist ideals.
What is the statue of Chairman Mao?
The spreading of hepatitis symbolizes this unseen yet potent form of resistance.
What is passive or indirect retaliation?
This type of official is responsible for falsely accusing Mr. Chiu of being a saboteur.
Who is a railroad policeman?
Within a month of Mr. Chiu’s release, this illness spreads through Muji, causing six deaths.
What is acute hepatitis?
The story illustrates the conflict between individual rights and this collectivist ideology.
What is Communism?
The location Mr. Chiu is headed to with his wife before the arrest.
What is Harbin?
This environmental detail in the square conveys both decay and tension.
What is the smell of rotten melon?