Han's Crime

Summary

Han's crime is a translated version of a short story written by a Japanese author named Shiga Naoya. The story begins with an account of the crime: In the midst of a performance, Han, a young Chinese juggler, severs his wife's carotid artery with one of his knives. The young woman dies instantly, and Han was arrested.

The body of the story consists of the judge's questioning the owner-manager of the circus troupe, the Chinese stagehand, and finally Han himself. In questioning the three men, the judge attempts to decide whether Han's wife's death was premeditated murder or manslaughter. Han is confused before the judges because he does not know that the murder was intentional or it was just a horrible accident.The owner-manager tells the judge that Han's act is very difficult and requires steady nerves and complete concentration as well as intuition. He does not know whether the killing was intentional or accidental. (Chang, 2)

The Chinese stagehand testifies that Han and his wife were kind and gentle people who treated friends and acquaintances well and never argued with others. Han had become a Christian the past year and spent much of his spare time reading Christian literature. The stagehand recollects, however, that Han and his wife did not get along, especially since the death of their infant son soon after his birth. Han never hit his wife, but he would stare at her angrily. He once told the stagehand that his love for her had died but that he would not consider a divorce. Han's wife was not in a position to leave the marriage either because; having spent four years on the road with a circus performer, no one respectable would marry her. After hearing the story, the judges prove Han innocent.

Theme

The theme revolving round the story is guilt ...