Cheng's Negativity Toward Baowen example essay topic

The disdain and curiosity of homosexuality in "The Bridegroom" Homosexuality is the primary focus of Ha Jin's short story, "The Bridegroom". The reader is carried through Huang Baowen's imprisonment after his homosexuality is discovered by security in rural China. Told through the eyes of an old man, Cheng, Baowen's father-in-law, Ha Jin implies throughout the story Cheng's own prejudices and discomfort as he confronts his own issues relating to sexuality - his own, as well as, Baowen's. Cheng's knowledge of homosexuality is limited, at best, with the exception of hearing rumors and believing the fallacies surrounding what is to him a mysterious, and intriguing lifestyle. Ha Jin's use of symbolism regarding Cheng's inner conflict of disgust, confusion, and curiosity about homosexuality establishes the reader's understanding of the relationship between Cheng and his son-in-law, Baowen. Before the reader is made aware of Baowen's sexual preference, Cheng relays that Baowen seems a bit different by stating, "In a way he resembled a woman, delicate, clear-skinned, and soft-spoken; he could even knit things out of wool".

(414) With the first reference to Baowen being gay, it is illustrated how the officials and respected individuals in this rural China town truly feel. After Baowen is arrested, along with many other men at a secret gay club, Cheng is called to the security bureau, or what would be equivalent to a police station, to meet with Chief Miao, where Miao must explain what homosexuals do. Jin illustrates the discomfort of Miao with the concept himself by stating: "He (the Chief) kept on squirming as if itchy with hemorrhoids". (416) When Cheng finally gets to meet with Baowen at the security bureau, the reader is invited to feel disgust with the situation, when Jin describes the room that they will get to talk privately in saying: "the room smelled of urine". (417) With the rumors that surround the situation, as well as the attitudes that were taken toward the men that were arrested, it is inferred that it is better to be considered to have a mental disorder than to actually be gay. Baowen tells Cheng at the station that he was interested in a man at the club, but hadn't actually done anything sexually with him.

Cheng takes that opportunity to think through a strategy to prevent Baowen from going to jail by arguing the following: .".. first, I would maintain that he had done nothing in the club, so as to isolate him from the real criminals; second, I would present him as a sick man, so that he might receive medical treatment instead of a prison term". (417-418) When people began to talk and the rumors spread at the sewing machine factory (in which most people in the town worked and Cheng's own workplace), Cheng professes these feelings: "All the talk sickened me" (418) and "I felt ashamed of my son-in-law". (418) Because of Cheng's efforts on his behalf, Baowen was, in fact, allowed to go to a mental institution instead of prison. Baowen was also sent to an institution because there was not enough prison space for 27 men detained for homosexuality to be kept in separate cells. They couldn't be with one another, and they couldn't they be mixed with the other inmates. Cheng was allowed to visit Baowen a few times during his hospitalization.

There he learned that Baowen was subjected to electric baths to 'cure' him. This process involved immersing Baowen into a bath full of hot water with metal mesh along the sides. Gradually during the bath, electricity was infused from the mesh into the water, subjecting him to tremendous pain. While Cheng's judgment and confusion about homosexuality remained constant in the story, Ha Jin also relayed Cheng's empathy when he witnessed Baowen's 'treatment' using the electric bath: "My heart was full of pity for Baowen. He was such a fine young man that he ought to be able to love a woman, have a family, and enjoy a normal life".

(422) Still, Cheng grappled with his conflicting feelings of sorrow for Baowen and disgust for his sexual 'crime. ' Inevitably, however, Cheng's negativity toward Baowen overtook any empathy or compassion, so much so that when Cheng was given some malted milk by Baowen. "I didn't touch the milk, unsure whether homosexuality was communicable". (423) Cheng saw the worth in his son-in-law, but towards the end of the story, he received a call from the Security Bureau again telling him that Baowen was going to prison because he developed a relationship with one of the male nurses at the hospital.

At that point in the story, perhaps to protect himself from his own internal conflict, Cheng disowned his son-in-law and his daughter. The story ended abruptly, implying to the reader the feeling that Cheng simply threw his hands up, and gave up any hope that he could help either of them. Time after time throughout the story, the author showed through masterful symbolism an old man's struggle with his own sexuality, as well as the life and sexuality of his daughter and son-in-law. Feelings that Cheng experienced regarding homosexuality - his fear, curiosity, and encompassing despair / disgust - colored the background of the entire tale until finally leaving the reader with the same futility of Cheng himself.