Han's Crime
Walter Gainer
English 101, section 010
February 4, 2011
“Han’s Crime” by Naoya Shiga
The story “Han’s Crime”, written by Naoya Shiga, is about a traveling Chinese juggler who killed his wife. Everyone who knew of Mr. Han thought of him has a very honorable person. Han’s wife was also considered “Very correct”. Mr. and Mrs. Han were always kind to their friends; however, Mr. Han and his wife were incredibly cruel to each other. This led to Han wanting to leave his wife which led to him killing her. The thing that caused Han to feel this way about his wife was the birth of their baby. Han’s wife gave birth to a baby eight months after their marriage. Han was under the impression that the baby belonged to his wife’s cousin. Han told everyone that it was a premature birth. This explained why the baby died so soon; nevertheless, it was actually the wife who killed the baby by smothering it with her breasts. For the rest of Mr. and Mrs. Han’s marriage, Han did not approach his wife and ask her if the baby was his. It seems to me that Han does not face his problems, but runs away from them or take the easy way out. For example, Han did not want to divorce his wife because he did not want there to be any wrong on him. If Han had confronted her about the possible affair as well as the death of their baby, their marriage would have gone in a completely different direction that did not end in one of them killing the other. I do not mean to say that they would have lived happily ever after or anything, but it definitely would have helped their relationship with each other. The birth and death of the baby symbolizes a new beginning for Han. “The child’s death seemed like retribution for everything and I decided that I should be as magnanimous as possible”. Han replaced the love for his wife with a tremendous hatred towards her. He thought of divorcing her, but having recently converted to Christianity he did not want there to be any wrong by his doing. Han’s
English 101, section 010
February 4, 2011
“Han’s Crime” by Naoya Shiga
The story “Han’s Crime”, written by Naoya Shiga, is about a traveling Chinese juggler who killed his wife. Everyone who knew of Mr. Han thought of him has a very honorable person. Han’s wife was also considered “Very correct”. Mr. and Mrs. Han were always kind to their friends; however, Mr. Han and his wife were incredibly cruel to each other. This led to Han wanting to leave his wife which led to him killing her. The thing that caused Han to feel this way about his wife was the birth of their baby. Han’s wife gave birth to a baby eight months after their marriage. Han was under the impression that the baby belonged to his wife’s cousin. Han told everyone that it was a premature birth. This explained why the baby died so soon; nevertheless, it was actually the wife who killed the baby by smothering it with her breasts. For the rest of Mr. and Mrs. Han’s marriage, Han did not approach his wife and ask her if the baby was his. It seems to me that Han does not face his problems, but runs away from them or take the easy way out. For example, Han did not want to divorce his wife because he did not want there to be any wrong on him. If Han had confronted her about the possible affair as well as the death of their baby, their marriage would have gone in a completely different direction that did not end in one of them killing the other. I do not mean to say that they would have lived happily ever after or anything, but it definitely would have helped their relationship with each other. The birth and death of the baby symbolizes a new beginning for Han. “The child’s death seemed like retribution for everything and I decided that I should be as magnanimous as possible”. Han replaced the love for his wife with a tremendous hatred towards her. He thought of divorcing her, but having recently converted to Christianity he did not want there to be any wrong by his doing. Han’s