Waiting

Waiting (1999) is a romance novel by Chinese-American writer Ha Jin (1956-present). The story follows Lin Kong as he struggles against the pressures of duty and service to be with the woman he loves. The characters in Ha Jin's romance novel live through a tumultuous period in China when the nation experienced massive growth and development. Ha Jin uses this backdrop to analyze themes of duty and culture.

Waiting: Summary

In summary, Waiting tells the story of three intertwined lives. In 1963 Communist China, Lin Kong was studying to become a doctor in the Chinese army. His parents pressure him to enter an arranged marriage to Shuyu, a simple woman from a small village. He finds Shuyu unattractive and backward but eventually relents to his parent's wishes and agrees to marry her.

Fig. 1 - Lin's wife, Shuyu, only knows life in the small settlement of Goose village in rural China.

While Shuyu raises their daughter Hua and looks after Lin's parents in the small village, Lin provides for the family by working at a hospital in Muji City. Lin is deeply ashamed of his wife, who embodies old-fashioned China that his colleagues look down on. For example, Shuyu suggests that they need to have a son to maintain the family line whereas Lin believes that the continuation of the revolutionary spirit of the Communist party should be the main focus. He refuses to let Shuyu visit him at the military hospital and only wishes for her once a year for ten days during a holiday celebration.

The couple drifts apart as Lin withholds sex and affection from his wife, but Shuyu remains committed to the marriage. While teaching student nurses, Lin meets a young woman named Manna Wu. The pair begin to form a friendship which eventually grows into love. Lin and Manna are conscientious about keeping their relationship secret, as workplace relationships are forbidden in the Chinese military.

By the late 1960s, Lin realizes he must divorce his wife to be with the woman he loves. Feeling caught between his martial commitments and the hope of happier life, Lin is distraught with guilt. He asks Shuyu for a divorce during his annual visit for several years. She eventually agrees to overtime but then backs out when the couple goes to the local court to finalize the divorce.

Fig. 2 - While Shuyu raises their daughter in the countryside, Lin works in Muji City.

As the years go by, Manna patiently awaits the divorce as she is propositioned by several suitors and faces sexual harassment at the hands of male colleagues. Because of a law that if a couple has not had sex or has been separate for 18 years, Lin can finally secure the divorce. Shuyu comes to the city to sign the papers and decides to remain there.

Manna and Lin finally marry and have a set of twin boys. When Manna's health deteriorates, Lin is forced to care for the children and hold down his job. The pressure affects his happiness and marriage as a bedridden Manna grows increasingly angry and abusive toward him. Lin begins to lament his choices. He notices that Shuyu is more attractive than he initially thought and as she and Hua begin to spend more time with him, he laments the life he left behind.

Lin expresses to Shuyu his regret over his life's choices and asks her to wait for him despite feeling that he is not a man worth waiting for. Hua later tells him after he returns to Manna that Shuyu will wait for him after all.

Waiting: Themes

The most crucial theme Ha Jin explores in Waiting is the sense of duty that permeates most aspects of Chinese society.

Duty

Many characters in Waiting feel pressure to do things they don't want because of a sense of duty. Lin's marriage to Shuyu, a woman he feels nothing for, is impacted by his sense of duty to obey his parents. Shuyu's sense of duty to her marital responsibilities binds her to a distant and uncaring husband. Having married into Lin's family, Shuyu also bears the burden of caring for Lin's aging parents while her husband provides for the family by working in the city.

As well as familial duties, Lin is bound by his professional obligations. Lin is forced to keep his relationship with Manna a secret as a doctor in the army because of the military's inflexible rules. The strict regime they work under forbids comrades from conducting relationships as it could pull their energy away from their service. Cultural expectations form the rules and traditions which bound Lin in his career and life. Since Chinese culture is traditionally collectivist, the group's needs often come before an individual's desires.

Fig. 3 - As a military member, Lin is held to a higher standard than the general public.

This collectivist ideal informs many of the relationships in the book. During the post-revolution period, individual Chinese citizens were expected to sacrifice personal desires for the greater good. As a member of the army, Lin is expected to serve as an example of a perfect revolutionary to members of the public. His superior officers attempt to talk him out of the divorce, fearing it will reflect poorly on the military. Even the judge during the divorce case calls his actions immoral and beneath a soldier's behavior.

Waiting: Analysis

In Waiting, Ha Jin uses symbolism and the central love story between the main characters to analyze how culture and duty can impact the ability to love. As the book focuses on the love story between Lin and Manna, it is an example of a romance novel.

While most traditional romance novels take place in Western societies and present Western cultural norms, Ha Jin uses Waiting to illustrate the cultural norms in China. Instead of presenting characters fighting against the odds to secure their forbidden love, Ha Jin shows a more realistic picture of secret love in China. Manna and Lin are forced to keep their relationship a secret outside the hospital's walls and must tread carefully around the rules that forbid their love.

Symbolism

Ha Jin uses the novel's love triangle to symbolize the changes and challenges China experienced during its modernization and political turmoil. Lin, like his country, is torn between the two choices. His wife, Shuyu, represents the past and traditions highly valued in Chinese culture. As a doctor in a city, Lin yearns to embrace Manna, who represents the future and modernization.

The contrast between the two women reflects the crossroads China faced. Shuyu embodies the traditional rural culture. She refuses to change and embraces her role as a wife and caregiver without complaint. Shuyu also has bound feet, an ancient practice whereby young girls' feet were bound tightly to stunt foot growth. Bound feet were believed to increase a woman's attractiveness and chances of finding a husband. Lin views these traditions as old-fashioned and forbids Shuyu to visit him in the city for fear his colleagues will see her feet.

On the other hand, Manna is a modern woman pursuing her career and building an independent life in the city. While women in previous generations would have been limited to marriage and family, Manna is able to work. With the rapid development of the Chinese economy, women were encouraged to join the workforce and contributions to the country's growth. However, Manna still finds herself limited by gender expectations. As the years pass, she must reject marriage offers and faces public scrutiny because she decides to remain single while waiting for Lin's divorce.

Fig. 5 - Waiting presents the complex theme of duty versus desire which is explored by the various marriages and divorces in the novel.

Due to the country's strict social environment, Lin finds himself emotionally crippled. He is submissive to the pressure of his family, colleagues, and government. Instead of taking action, Lin spends his time overthinking and procrastinating, which causes his life to be dictated by others. His hesitation dooms him and Manna to long years spent "waiting" instead of living their life.

However, when Lin can finally fulfill his dreams by divorcing Shuyu and marrying Manna, he finds the reality of married life unfulfilling. Ha Jin uses this to reflect on the idea that the profound changes which transformed Chinese society may not always have resulted in perfect outcomes. By the novel's end, Lin is "waiting" again. As Manna's condition worsens, he awaits her death and hopes that he will be able to reunite with Shuyu.

Waiting: Quotes

The following quotes show Ha Jin's examination of how the pressures of duty and culture influence Lin's life.

Lin feels bound by his duty to his parents. As the son of a Chinese family, Lin is expected to provide for both his wife and child and his parents in their old age. The duties imposed on Lin by family, marriage, culture, and the military stop him from being with his true love and force him into living a life of waiting.

Lin is unable to commit to the things that are important to him. Frozen by his duties, he does not allow himself to move or grow. This inactivity has caused Lin to become stunted and stuck in his life. While he yearns for a different life, he often allows others to dictate his actions.