We have all been told that karma is going to come back and bite us eventually if we do something bad or good, it works both ways. Another big topic that has been recommended is to be humble and not brag about our possessions or accomplishments. In “A Tiger-Fighter Is Hard to Find” by Ha Jin, both of these elements are possibly present. Wang Huping has accepted the dangerous challenge of taking on a live tiger. Not just any tiger, but a gigantic, 300-pound, Siberian tiger. Wang’s heroicness was admired by the governor which is why he took the acting role and was ready for the fight.
When director Yu said “action”, the tiger hurled at Wang and Wang repeatedly hit him with his weapon. From the reading, it actually seemed like Wang was impressively dodging and striking this beast, but to everyone’s disappointment, the tiger passed out too early from the tranquilizer bullet. Wang was yelling and cheering about how he just defeated this animal and thought he was some sort of king. He celebrated and got drunk and just was super boastful. When I was reading, it seemed like Ha Jin was trying to portray Wang as a straight up jerk. They had to do the scene again and Wang ended up getting hurt because the tiger didn’t fall asleep fast enough. After that, director Yu just decided to have another actor play the tiger, which Wang just absolutely slaughtered and saw the actor, Dou, as a real tiger. The karma plays a role when Huping got hurt from the tiger. Wang is no hero or king because of the poor traits he possesses and karma and boastfulness played greatly into his acting role. Remember to stay humble and kind and just be a good person in general… and don’t beat up a fake tiger, or a real one for that matter 🙂