Waiting for what?

So lately, I've been really into Asian American literature, especially Ha Jin's novels. The topics he touches upon intrigue me in a way that frivolous romantic drivel cannot. To name a couple of his works:

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In Waiting, Ha Jin explored the relationships of a Communist party doctor. He depicted the irony that is the human condition... how to one person, a man can seem to be the most benevolent man on earth, and yet to another person, he can be a weakling that causes numbing pain with every apathetic act he commits.

It's a whole new perspective on the mentality of those affected by the Communist party during the Maoist China, how even those who align themselves with the party can suffer within their conformities in love and relationships. I don't know how I got through a book in which I wanted to shake and shout at the main character... yet at the same time, I pitied him. Warning: Lin Kong is a spineless fool who evidently feels no normal emotions. He's kind of annoying, but the story is still pretty unique.

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War Trash was... intense, to say the least. Historical fiction depicting the condition of Chinese POWs during the Korean War is pretty rare. To say that I'm biased towards the Nationalists when it comes to this time period in history is an understatement, what with my grandpa's involvement in the Nationalist government and my dad's own personal story under the rule of Communists.

However. War Trash really hammered home that when war is the setting, it doesn't matter which side's ideals are more "right". Really when it comes down to it, in a prison camp environment where a person's ideology is all one has, a person will kill and be killed just to protect its integrity. It doesn't even matter if the person fully understand the theories behind the ideology or not; it simply becomes the force that unites a group of people with a purpose.

Yes, the novel depicted Communist party members who allowed their men to be killed like rats (and for what?), just so that they could protect a so-called national flag made out of a tablecloth. Yes, an honorable death indeed.

But at the same time, Nationalists were disemboweling Liberation Army soldiers and tatooing obscentities like "F*** COMMUNISM" on them as a way of cutting off their escape routes back to China. They forced these men to go to Taiwan with them, ensuring that the men would never see their families in mainland China again.

So in reality, you can argue all you want about the political and ideological differences between communism and democracy, between China and Taiwan, but you cannot deny that in a war setting, all persons involved simply suck.