Bad Joke

Bad Joke was a very interesting, clever, and somewhat funny reading. The short story begins with policemen surrounding a building to arrest two men. Next, it does a little background story about how two men walk into a store and one of the men wanting to buy a pair of rubber loafers. Then, once the man found out the price of them increased he proceeded to give the shoes back, and said a “joke” as he left with the other man. The women helping the man in the store overheard this so called “joke,” and soon it spread like wildfire all over the City. Fast-forward to the police station, the two men were being interrogated about the “joke” they said, and what the context around which chairman they were targeting. The men kept up the process by saying how its all a misunderstanding but later they end up getting sent to the city prison for making up the “joke.” What really surprised me is how the policemen mentioned they would serve a month to a lifetime there. Furthermore, he added how they were lucky since most people who make up rumors or jokes get executed. This whole concept in the story made me laugh because now a days people are so sarcastic it’s sometimes hard to tell if they are being serious. In addition, people spread rumors not just in person but all over social media as well. If this law/policy was in place, oh boy that’s a lot of executions… This made me think about death penalties, as mentioned in this article , apparently China executes thousands of people a year (to date in 2019). They ruled out shooting executions in 2010 but still carry out lethal injections. Even though, The Bridegroom is a collection of fiction/literature short stories, it does contain some facts. For example, listed in the article is how they still carry out executions for economic and political crimes. Even though the readings in Ha Jin are getting stranger they still are enjoyable.