Naipaul's A Bend in the River. Naipaul has written that a column of ants on the march doesn't wait for those that fall behind or get lost; it just keeps moving forward. Jin came to believe that Naipaul's metaphor aptly described the relationship between the individual and the group.
「一隊前行的螞蟻，不會因為有幾隻螞蟻掉隊或迷失而停下來等待，依然繼續前進」──奈波爾的這個螞蟻譬喻，準確捕捉到個人與集體的關係。