Huang wrote:
I was thinking, what is the relationship between Dr. Owen and me? Why did he do so much for me? I benefited from the check-up; he did not. He had to spend time and energy and even lost money to do it. It is hard for a Chinese to understand this, let alone do it. We often want everybody to know that we did something for others…it is anything but pure kindness that drives us to do something for others. One dentist takes on a repressive regime Why did Cantor devote himself to the reconstruction of Huang’s jaw and mouth? “On a soul level, we are brothers,” said Cantor, who still stays in touch with Huang even after the poet moved to New York City. But the explanation runs deeper. “With Huang, I saw the sense of cynical impunity that torturers have,” said Cantor, who also has been treating subsequent City of Asylum writers from El Salvador and Burma. “Torturers may not kill the person, but they kill parts of the person forever. I was able to reverse the effects of torture,” said Cantor, who smiles when he remembers how Huang jumped with joy as he beheld his restored smile in the mirror. “I’m some guy in Pittsburgh who was able to chip away at the Communist regime.” VIEW OWEN CANTOR TALK ABOUT HUANG XIANG’S REACTION
Not only did Cantor feel that he had done his part to fight oppression, he had also helped liberate an important, global, literary voice. “I respect Huang as a writer,” Cantor said. “I would have paid them for the chance to do this work. It’s an honor to get a human being like that up and running again.”
AUGUST 2009
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