Point of View

“Map of Betrayal” by Ha Jin is the story of Weimin “Gary” Shang who was a Chinese spy who infiltrated U.S. intelligence from the late 1940s through the late 1970s. It also tells the story of Lilian who is Gary’s daughter. The story of Gary is told through a narrator who provides a factual account of Gary’s years of espionage. Lilian is determined to find out the truth about Gary’s life as a Chinese spy for Red China living as an American and working for the CIA as a translator. The narration is told in third person omniscient while Lilian’s account about her father and his work reflects her emotional involvement in Gary’s life and her struggles to grasp the reality of his story and understand it.

The author, Ha Jin, is a native of China which he left...