Ocean of Words
“A Report” – Ha Jin
“Good-bye, mother, good-bye, mother – The battle bugle blowing, Steel guns shiny, The outfits on our back, Our army is ready to go. Please do not weep in secret, Please do not worry about your son. Wait for my triumphant return; I will see you then my dear mother.”
The song above is from the short story “A Report” Within the story Chen Jun the head of the reconnaissance party of China’s Second Division laments to Commissar Lin after witnessing soldiers “sobbing” and bleating without shame.” The fiasco occurred after Chen Jun instructed Hsu Fang to start a song which unintentionally had the soldiers follow suit. The point of the song was in efforts of impressing the common folk as the soldiers marched by. Despite the failure of Chen Jun’s intent, the song signals something much deeper about itself and the men singing. The song begins with “Good-bye, mother, good-bye, mother” but it begs the question as to who’s mother are soldier’s bidding farewell to? “Mother” in truth as expressed from the song refers to the motherland or China itself. Although “mother” in the case of the song refers to China there remains another side to the word “Mother” sung by the soldiers which again reveals a sad detail. As the soldiers sing, imminent death beams across the horizon, there is no hiding from that reality for some if not most entering the bloodshed to come. To the soldiers themselves “Mother” refers to the ones who birthed them. This separation of the of the meaning of the word “Mother is made evident because of the emotion pouring out from the soldiers. The powerful sorrow signifies that the men are not “disciplined fighters” as described by Chen Jun but instead partially made up of young men ripped from their homes to fight for a different “Mother.” The scene in effect causes Chen Jun to call the song “counterrevolutionary.” Chen Jun’s description evokes the sad reality that the soldiers are merely cogs in the wheel for revolution. When one gets picked off, a replacement will always be available.
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