Ha Jin, On Comedy and Meaning in Fiction

00:25 [Ha Jin] The kernel of the drama really bothered me terribly. It really bothered me because there was an American franchise, a fast food franchise, that burned chicken at night in China, and the Chinese wrote articles in defense of the American practice, saying that this would do good for the business eventually, would save a lot of material, chicken, food. I just couldn't buy it, no matter what. There are people who starve while you burn chicken at night!  No matter what, I just wouldn't

01:00 take it. So that was a natural impulse that drove me to write the story. Because in the process of writing it, for me, there were a lot of misperceptions. The way the Chinese employees look at the American boss, and also the American boss doesn't understand them. So there were kind of cultural clashes,

01:30 and also I think I want to create a kind of comic surface, a lot of comedy. But a belief that these people really did suffer and they were fighting a lost battle and capitalism eventually might prevail. So it's not just a funny story, I think, but there is a kind of dark current

02:00 beneath it for me. But of course the reader can interpret in different ways. But for me, I think that was obvious, capitalism will win the battle.

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02:14 This is after they discover that one of the employees who has an American salary, who is pulling in an American salary instead of Chinese wages. And he also burned chicken at night.

02:30 That was his mission. Okay, let me read this:

02:38 [Passage reading] The next day we told all the other workers about our discovery. Everyone was infuriated and even the two part-timers couldn't stop cursing capitalism. There were children begging on the streets. There were homeless people at the train station and at the ferry house.

03:00 There were hungry cats and dogs everywhere. Why did Mr. Shapiro want Peter to burn good meat like garbage? Ma Yoo said he had read it in a restricted journal several years ago that some American capitalists would dump milk in the river instead of giving it to the poor. But that was in the U.S. Here in China, this kind of wasteful practice had to be

03:30 condemned. I told my fellow workers that I was going to write an article to expose Ken Shapiro and Peter Joe. In the afternoon, we confronted Peter. "Why do you burn the leftovers every night?" Ma Yoo asked, looking him right in the eye. Peter was taken aback, then replied, "It's my job." "That's despicable," I snapped.

04:00 "You not only burned them but also peed on them." My stomach suddenly rumbled. [something] pointed at Peter's nose and said sharply, "Peter Joe, remember you are Chinese, and there are people here who don't have enough cornflower to eat while you burn chicken every night. You have forgotten your ancestors and who you are." Peter looked

04:30 rattled, protesting, "I don't feel comfortable about it either, but somebody has to do it. I'm paid to burn them just like you are paid to fry them."

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04:42 Yeah, I think comedy is hard. There's kind of high comedy that always makes a point and really says something bigger, deeper about life. That is hard. It's not just funny for funny's sake. That high order kind of comedy is very difficult to write.