Why did Yu Tsun do it?
In "The Garden of Forking Paths," Yu Tsun provides little justification for sacrificing his life to reveal the new British artillery. Tsun accepts on the first page that he is going to die soon and his work will end, yet he spends the last free day of his life committed to a country he doesn't support. He defends that he does not fight to promote the German cause: "I did not do it for Germany-- no! Such a barbarous country is of no importance to me, particularly since it had degraded me by making me become a spy" (91). It is unclear why he is dedicated to completing his task of communication to The Chief. He justifies that he "wished to prove to him that a yellow man could save his armies." At first I wasn't completely sold on this reason because he doesn't say anything else about his race and he didn't show any pride in his culture, and he even scorns the work of his ancestor.
Tsun may just want to be heard and have some kind of impact on the world or "time." He talks a lot about different sounds: he notes that "a pistol shot can be heard for a great distance," and he describes how difficult it is to communicate with his "feeble voice, above the tumult of the war." It is possible that living in a foreign country and fighting a war whose cause he doesn't support has made him feel isolated, and killing Albert is his chance to play a significant role in everything going on.
However, Tsun closes the story with "infinite penitence and sickness of the heart" (101). Does he regret supporting Germany? Does he hate that he rejected the ideas of the one person who could explain Pên's work, then killed him? Does it have something to do with his quote about being an enemy of a country (94)?
Tsun may just want to be heard and have some kind of impact on the world or "time." He talks a lot about different sounds: he notes that "a pistol shot can be heard for a great distance," and he describes how difficult it is to communicate with his "feeble voice, above the tumult of the war." It is possible that living in a foreign country and fighting a war whose cause he doesn't support has made him feel isolated, and killing Albert is his chance to play a significant role in everything going on.
However, Tsun closes the story with "infinite penitence and sickness of the heart" (101). Does he regret supporting Germany? Does he hate that he rejected the ideas of the one person who could explain Pên's work, then killed him? Does it have something to do with his quote about being an enemy of a country (94)?
I agree that Tsun feels that he is just an insignificant cog in the machine of war and wants to play a special role. Perhaps these feelings can stem from the insubordination he has experienced being a yellow man in a white man's war. He is not trying to defend his country of origin, but instead wants to prove wrong all those who underestimated his abilities because of his race. In doing so, he is able to fulfill his wish of making an impact on the war.
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