Waiting by Ha Jin Lin Kongs Endless Wait Free Essay Example, 1500 words

In Waiting , the protagonist s affections are quickly transferred to a young and intelligent nurse at his medical facility from a wife, who he married only to fulfill his parent s wishes. He is mostly away from his wife to serve in a government medical facility and often becomes the prime subject of censure for a platonic relationship with his nurse; which is not only sexual prudery but also strips the masses of their right to act on their own will. Ha Jin describes: They (Manna and Lin) were not allowed to walk together outside the hospital grounds. By now, after so many years of restriction, they had grown accustomed to it (1999, p. 13). The suppression of their emotions has numbed that even after the protagonist ends up marrying his one true love, he feels that somehow he has run out of feelings for her as well. A society that always emphasizes on the importance of filial piety is also designed on to strip a person off his individuality and his right to love and marry whoever h e or she deems worthy. Lin s wife Shuyu was a metaphor for a sense of duty and responsibility, though he has a cordial relationship with her but he feels nothing beyond. We will write a custom essay sample on Waiting by Ha Jin: Lin Kongs Endless Wait or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/page Lin is more thrilled by his fantasy world than his reality, which is the biggest hurdle in not only his life but a major block in the Chinese mindset. However, it can also be seen that Lin s real disappointment stems not only from his inability to love, but it is the also triggered by the realization that the social codes that he had submitted to all these years; which also caused him great pain for eighteen years.