In Broad Daylight: The Unjust Humiliation of Mu Ying
In "In Broad Daylight," Mu Ying, who has earned the moniker Old Whore, is the subject of a tale. She is criticized by the public for having affairs with several different males. The community Red Guards, who are from a different city and are cognizant of Mu Ying's adulterous nature, watch as she is paraded in front of them. The locals make fun of and degrade her. When her short peddler husband Meng Su tries to shield her from the embarrassment, he instead receives it himself from the Red Guards, bystanders, and his partner. Ultimately, he is found hit by a train, and his wife is lonely at the bus station and looks mad. The story has been authored from the perspective of a White Cat, a boy from China who lives in the suburbs of the town. The White Cat also takes part in punishing and humiliating Mu Ying. The story reveals that the Chinese women have a certain role which is; they should be honest, loyal and modest. The punishment and humiliation to Mu Ying by the townspeople and the Red Guard in Ha Jin's "In Broad Daylight" was unjustified.
The Humiliation of Mu Ying
The humiliation of Mu Ying is vivid all through the story. She was openly embarrassed by the entire town and on White Mansion. Ha Jin utilizes reference to the "Red Letter" with a major notice stuck round Mu Ying's neck. "They also hung a big placard between the cloth-shoes lying against her chest. The words on the placard read: I am a Broken Shoe, My Crime Deserves Death" (Jin 220). They put the placard round her and paraded her through the avenues for the townspeople to know that she is promiscuous. They do this to make Mu Ying feel regret for her transgression. Mu Ying feels it is unfair for her to be punished for sleeping with men. A lady from the Red Guard removes the hair of Mu Ying to mortify her and take away her beauty additionally. Another lady puts a couple of old fabric shoes on Mu Ying. This is a symbol of an adulterous lady. These cases are done to dehumanize and make Mu Ying feel blame for her actions. It was unjustified for women to put other women down. In essence, they should have approached her once they knew her conduct and advised her accordingly.
The Unjustified Punishment for Promiscuity
The Chinese rules regarding promiscuity may be very harsh and strict, but it was unjustified to punish and humiliate Mu Ying in such a manner as many of those who criticized her were hypocrites of adultery only that their cases had not been publicized. Mu Ying was insulted making the whole event look like a society hate session. Mu Ying committed a shameful act to the community, and according to their culture maybe it was right to condemn the actions. However, it was unjustified how the community humiliated her and punished her. When her spouse pleaded with the Red Guards, she looked at him wordlessly, with just a faint smile. According to her, the character of her impotent spouse is meticulous and laughable.
Injustice and Sexism in China
While she mentioned the names of the men she was adulterous with, the crowd did not mind about their unfaithfulness. To them, men did not have any mistakes, but the lady is the one who had seduced them. The Red Guard enquired, "Why do you seduce men and paralyze their revolutionary will with your bourgeois poison?" (Jin 216). She replied with a question, "I've never invited any man to my home, have I?" (Jin 156) When some women murmured in the crowd, she persuaded them by quoting their experiences: "Sisters, all right, it was wrong to sleep with them. But you all know what it feels like when you want a man, don't you? Don't you once in a while have that feeling in your bones?" (Jin 162). This essay does not try to make this a case of sexism in China; however, the utterances of the Red Guards and the onlookers were very unjust and hateful. Since the whole community was attacking Mu Ying, she was left defenseless, and even the men she had slept with turned a blind eye to her. Scornfully, she looked at the ladies in the front row straight in their eyes, and closing her eyes said, "Oh, you want that real man to have you in his arms and let him touch every part of your body. For that man alone you want to blossom into a woman, a real woman" (Jin 156).
The Unfair and Unjust Treatment of Mu Ying
The Revolutionary mass vowed to teach Mu Ying a lesson through parading her in the streets. She pleaded innocent and requested the crowd to forgive her as she had learned her lesson; "Brothers and sisters, please let me off just for once. Don't, don't! I promise I'll correct my fault. I'll be a new person. Help! Oh, help!" (Jin 161). The crowd was unfair and unjust to her because even after showing remorse and promising never to repeat the same mistake they proceeded to punish her by hanging the placard round her neck and making her walk through the streets with it. They would at least have given her a chance to defend herself and for the sake of her husband released her as the husband had already forgiven her. They did not mind about the effect of their humiliation on her family. The villagers could have used the torture of Mu Ying as a cover up for their many flaws. They probably felt unstable in their homes, thus fueling the fire. The devastating thing is that not even one person took note of the state of her husband as he committed suicide. Generally, human beings take note of the negative things that happen in life pertaining others. They forget to look at their own flaws and their consequences. Those who like making fun of others lack security within themselves.
A Society Without Privacy
The story of Mu Ying reveals people who live without privacy. The society is full of gossip and Red Guards who misuse their authority to enhance vengeance for things that do not concern them. "In Broad Daylight" portrays open humiliation and attack of a sexually frustrated lady who is viewed as an occasional prostitute. One of her clients is a young Red Guards who failed to pay her, and she ended up beating him. The other group of the Red Guards descended on her under the capacity of disciplinarians, and that eventually leads to her spouse killing himself due to shame. This reveals the living conditions of the people as grim with many selfish characters where the common citizens have to survive against all these odds. The Red Guards did not question their colleague who did not pay for the services of Mu Ying but instead blamed Mu Ying for seducing him which was not the case. This shows how unjust the people were to Mu Ying. They tried to put her down through humiliation and made her seem like the only bad person, yet their own lives were full of flaws.
The Tragic Ending and Gender Stereotyping
The story ends with the suicide of Meng Su. "Beneath the track, Meng's headless body lay in a ditch" (Jin 220). After Mu Ying faces all the humiliation, she finds her partner lying dead at a train station. The only person who was compassionate with Mu Ying was the husband, who is now deceased. Now she is left suffering all alone in great pain. This story reflects a society where gender stereotyping is embraced and women are blamed for committing the same mistakes men are excused from. It is right for a man to commit adultery, yet wrong for a woman to commit the same act. This shows how injustice prevails in the society.
Works Cited
Booth, Alison, & Kelly J. Mays. The Norton Introduction to Literature. 10th. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2010. Print.
