In the novel written by Ha Jin, Waiting, we could see authority intervening several times in the story, which gave great effect in the plot of the story itself. And, the characters interact with the concept of authority differently from another.
The story was set in a military medical hospital in China. Of course, the setting was an obvious place for authority to prevail; and there is only two types existing in such environment, the follower, and the one who will make you follow. The characters in the hospital were concerned of their ranks or designations. Everyone is wishing to order people around. All saw the people in the higher position as people who should be obeyed or be given special treatment almost all the time. This could be seen in the part when the commissar wanted a new wife and he simply asked the hospital leaders to recommend the best one in the system. The leaders, as expected, shall follow to satisfy the commissar.
It is to Manna's delight that she has been the chosen one to date Commissar Wei. She obviously liked the idea, despite the fact that she has affection to Lin Kong. I saw this part telling us that sometimes, an opportunity or a better position in life may overcome affection. Well, Manna just did what maybe some would do.
We could also see that it was Lin Kong's obedience to his parents that made him accept the marriage with Shuyu. This shows authority and respect often comes together. Sometimes, people get to do things they regret for the sake of respect.
Take note, too, that it is the power of being the husband that gave Lin Kong the ability to begin a motion for divorce. Knowing that he has authority over Shuyu, he almost didn't mind hurting. It is this authority that gave him the push to go to the judge and divorce Shuyu despite knowing, and probably caring, that Shuyu will be hurt. In addition to this, it is Shuyu's recognition to Lin Kong as authority that made her decide to accept his decision with little tears, until they came to the judge that her personal feelings flowed out.
These are simply citations of the observance of authority in the first half of the story, telling us how authority had affected the lives of the characters.
In reality, we could see more examples of authority mingling in our lives. Other people simple follow for the sake of avoiding punishment while others who tend to disregard the authority could be found hiding somewhere.
It could be said that authority is good since a chain of command spells an orderly system anywhere you put it. Only when it is abused that authority becomes bad. Take note that however well we did in achieving a position, once there, we are subject to corruption, knowing you have this shield against your people.
As seen in the story, authority is like a chain nailing the characters down to wherever they are, making them wait. They are forced to disregard their own desires just to follow authority and get promoted. Therefore, authority makes us weak. It makes us look puppets being moved by the higher people. We may have the ability to do things in our will, yet, there is this border set by authority where we can not go further anymore without getting punished. It is, then, that people develop the curiosity to go beyond. Sometimes, we make this 'desire for authority' as our reason for our actions, only showing that we did not move based on our will.
Authority will never be eliminated in our society. We could say that without the desire to be in authority, no one would need to be industrious to be promoted. It is just in us how we are going to move around this authority, plus, how we move to be in authority, and then, how to make people move when you're in authority.
