Introduction In Ha Jin’s story “Saboteur” readers are shown a fictional account of an abuse of power and authority wherein the main character, Mr. Chiu, is forced to undergo false arrest, imprisonment and subsequent degradation at the hands of the local police located near Muji train station. It is based on this account that it can be determined that one of the prevailing elements in the story is the application of authority and its ability to create power. First and foremost it must be stated that the concept of “power” is considered to be the ability to influence or control people to perform a certain action. On the other hand the term “authority” is more closely related to a form of legitimacy wherein a person is justified by law to exercise power in a particular manner to induce a certain effect. Thus it can stated that a person may inherently have power to cause people to do a certain action but that doesn’t been they have the authority to actually do so. Conversely it can be stated that those in authority have ability to utilize power in order to cause an effect on a population group or an individual. Though it is not apparent in the story it can be seen that both sides, namely Mr. Chiu and the police actually have differing forms of power. In the case of Mr. Chiu his power was his academic ability and his ability to convey ideas through either written or oral works while for the police it was in the use of authority in order to enforce their will on Mr. Chiu and other members of the population. What must be understood though is that the story delves deeply into fact that authority in effect enhances the application of power and that this results in the ability to enforce a person’s will upon an individual or group. Thus it can be stated that the story exemplifies the legitimizing ability of authority which creates the ability to utilize power to influence and control people. Examining the Legitimizing Power of Authority In the case of the application of power, for Mr. Chiu while he did have power he lacked the legitimizing ability of authority in order to actually enforce it. For example it can be seen in numerous instances throughout the story that he stated he was a university professor, that people would come looking for him and in instances of self-dialog he stated that he would create an article detailing his experiences in order to get even with the police. Yet despite these apparent forms of power Mr. Chiu was in effect unable to effectively utilize or manifest them in order to set himself free. In the case of the police it can be seen that the legitimizing ability of authority enabled them to effectively utilize their power to first arrest Mr. Chiu in public without public protest, were able to keep him in jail despite his innocence and finally were able to bind and torture Fenjin to a tree on the basis of their authority. One important aspect point to remember from the story was the reference to Chairman Mao in the story. It must be noted that based on the various references in the story it can be assumed that the story took place at a time when Mao Zedong was still alive and in control of the communist party of China. Mr. Chiu’s reference to Mao Zedong can actually be seen as yet another effect of the legitimizing ability of authority wherein despite his tenure as an educated University professor apparently well-versed in various internatio