Adam Johnson’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Orphan Master's Son, depicts the tumultuous government of North Korea. Jun Do, the protagonist of the story, experiences multiple fatalities through life such as the struggle of finding his true identity. Although, the novel does not fully represent what goes on within the country's borders. Even so, Johnson has his readers immersed in the topic of North Korean lifestyle and government. The Orphan Master’s Son provides its readers with a only light depiction of Jun Do’s life in present North Korea. Johnson’s description of North Korea is just a small section of what we cannot see due to minimal exposure and censorship of the country's actions, yet it does give some intel on the encounters experienced …show more content…
Through him, we learn that he is a non-orphan living in an orphanage, not entirely sure who he really is. The orphanage he is from, Long Tomorrows, provides a hard working shelter for orphaned children who are ultimately named after Korean martyrs. Jun Do is not named after a martyr, which gives him and readers the immediate feeling that he is not among the orphans. In Long Tomorrows, Jun Do did some serious work, such as “portioning food, assigning bunks, renaming the new boys… chipped the frozen piss off the floor” (Johnson 7). The orphanage sounds just like a child slavery home, having the forgotten children do dirty work as a means to give their lives meaning. It is also stated that Jun Do was sent to spend the night at the rabbit warren every time it was dirty. A warren is an underground system of tunnels and rooms meant for small animals. Jun Do was sent to live in a dirty place for animals and is being treat like an animal as the many kids in the orphanage are as well. Long Tomorrows has an ironic bell to it, seeming like a long and bright future ahead of you, when in reality the place is a life living hell. Besides the cruel treatment of Long Tomorrows, Jun Do experiences another environment of torture and inhumane treatment, prison …show more content…
Johnson uses Jun Do as our eyes into the prison camps of North Korea by saying, “…Jun Do had seen no living boy so sinewy, and they moved faster than the Long Tomorrows orphans ever had” (Johnson 170). Jun Do is seeing a sight go men doing hard manual labor in the barracks of the camp. He describes the sight to be worst than the orphanage, as if it wasn’t bad enough to put children through manual labor. Jun Do also encounters an infirmary where medics of the camp drain blood from dead prisoners, also known as blood harvesters, to take to a hospital for patients in Pyongyang. These disturbing acts are ordered by their government, and the citizens being afraid of the government have no power or rights. In one point of the novel, Jun Do is sailing on a fishing boat. In the boat, there are photos of the Dear Leader and the Great Leader on the walls. This is a mandatory action required in North Korea, “Then one of the sailors came out of the pilothouse with the ship’s framed portrait of Kim Jong Il. He’d manage to pry it off the wall, and he was holding it up… No, no, no, he [Jun Do] said, this is very serious. You must put that back” (Johnson 60). Jun Do found this very offensive and frightening because the American sailors investigating their boat were insulting he Leaders and could send the men of the boat to punishment, "You don't understand. You could be sending these men to their graves. They need to be detained
David Horowitz wrote the book “Radical Son,” as an autobiography narrating his political and spiritual growth. The author gives the experience of his political journey, which he regards as generational odyssey. The book’s title presents the reader with a chance to imagine what to expect from the book. The title provides a calculatedly designed account of the book’s content. Through the author’s political and religious journey, he has grown to become radical. The journey to where he stands today has been tedious and challenging. The paper presents a review of the book “Radical Son” by David Horowitz. Initially, a summary of the book is provided. Furthermore, the paper highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the book from a personal approach. The essay culminates by providing the lessons learned from the book.
Blaine Harden, former national correspondent and writer for the New York Times, delivers an agonizing and heartbreaking story of one man’s extremely conflicted life in a labor camp and an endeavor of escaping this place he grew up in. This man’s name is Shin Dong-hyuk. Together, Blaine Harden and Shin Dong-hyuk tell us the story of this man’s imprisonment and escape into South Korea and eventually, the United States, from North Korea. This biography that takes place from 1982-2011, reports to its readers on what is really going on in “one of the world’s darkest nations” (back cover of the book), that is run under a communist state and totalitarian dictatorship that was lead by Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il, and currently lead by Kim-Jong un. In Escape from Camp 14, Shin shows us the adaptation of his life and how one man can truly evolve from an animal, into a real human being.
In the story To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, we are introduced to the character Atticus. He is a hard working single parent of two who is kindhearted and does what he believes is right and treats everyone equally. Being such a hard worker, his mind is often on work, even at home, which means less time spent with his children. While Atticus may make some mistakes as a parent, overall he is an admirable father.
The novel The Chosen by Chaim Potok presents an important theme that is mirrored in other works of literature. The Chosen's portrayal of a dysfunctional father-child relationship is present in the song "Dead Bodies Everywhere" by the band Korn and in Sherwood Anderson's short story "Tandy". All three works depicted fathers who attempted to change their children into someone different. The works showed how this could hurt the children's relationship with their respective father. The pieces of literature also show how this type of dysfunctional father-child relationship can lead to the child finally disavowing their father and previous life. The Chosen, "Dead Bodies Everywhere", and "Tandy" all show Fathers that try to change their children, the damage caused by this effort, and finally the total renunciation by the child of their previous life.
Delisle, Guy, and Helge Dascher. Pyongyang: a journey in North Korea. Montréal, Quebec: Drawn & Quarterly ;, 2007. Print.
1984 demonstrates a dystopian society in Oceania by presenting a relentless dictator, Big Brother, who uses his power to control the minds of his people and to ensure that his power never exhausts. Aspects of 1984 are evidently established in components of society in North Korea. With both of these society’s under a dictator’s rule, there are many similarities that are distinguished between the two. Orwell’s 1984 becomes parallel to the world of dystopia in North Korea by illustrating a nation that remains isolated under an almighty ruler.
(migrationinformation, 2008). Citizens of North Korea do not attain the freedom to leave and experience other states. North Korea’s lack of freedom not only affects their citizens but also individuals from other countries in a negative sense, cutting off social bonds as a result. Not having mobility rights is an infringement on their negative liberty on account of the option of immigrating or emigrating not being available to them due to the laws placed by the government. In actuality, citizens “caught emigrating or helping others cross the border illegally are detained” (migrationinformation, 2008).
The summoner by Gail Z Martin is a rollercoaster plotted story that really closely relates to a very popular news story all around the world today about North Korea. In North Korea there is and has been tyranny since after World War II, the country is run by an autocratic government. The dictatorship has been passed down the line of a particular family that have isolated North korea from the rest of the world. The current dictator is a man named Kim Jong Un and his story is the one that so closely relates to Gail Z. Martin’s The Summoner. Sky News claims that “Since taking power in 2011, Kim is said to have purged a series of senior officials - including members of his own family- who represent a threat to his leadership”. This shows that
Williamson, Lucy. "'Life of Hard Labour' in North Korean Camp." BBC News. BBC, 05 Mar. 2011. Web. 08 Apr. 2014.
Chaim Potok’s The Chosen explores two father son relationships, one between the Malters and one between the Saunders. In the final chapter of the book, Danny and Reb Saunders finally come to an understanding of each other, but not without the help of Reuven. Although they are a strong family, the Saunders need an outside force to help them communicate and solve Danny’s problems overall. The last chapter covers the need for suffering and pain and shows how Danny grows with Reuven’s help.
In the novel, “The Girls with Seven Names” by Hyeonseo Lee, one can identify the adversity the author encounters, leaving North Korea and discovering the truth about her country. I characterize her as a courageous, smart, independent, and a survivor. Through her book, one can identify the corruption within the government, contrabands, the persistent fear over North Koreans, and importance of someone’s songbun. I really liked this novel because it reminded me of my mom’s experience leaving Guatemala and her experience in the United States.
The North Korean communist nation controls the citizen’s religious beliefs so they have to believe in jushe which is a belief that they have to look up to North Korean leaders. The North Korean leaders make sure the citizens of North Korea believe in it; if they don’t, they are sent to a concentration camp where they are either torched or deaf.... ... middle of paper ... ...
By any measure, The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyong, known as Hanjungnok (Records written in silence), is a remarkable piece of Korean literature and an invaluable historical document, in which a Korean woman narrated an event that can be described as the ultimate male power rivalry surrounding a father-son conflict that culminates in her husband’s death. However, the Memoirs were much more than a political and historical murder mystery; writing this memoir was her way of seeking forgiveness. As Haboush pointed out in her informative Introduction, Lady Hyegyong experienced a conflict herself between the demands imposed by the roles that came with her marriage, each of which included both public and private aspects. We see that Lady Hyegyong justified her decision to live as choosing the most public of her duties, and she decided that for her and other members of her family must to be judged fairly, which required an accurate understanding of the her husband’s death. It was also important to understand that Lady Hyegyong had to endure the
Created during the Cold War, the People’s Army had abandoned their traditions to follow those of the Soviets (Tertitskiy, par. 5). After turning 17, all North Koreans who pass a health check join the military. Usually, unless an enlistee gives the military mobilization department a bribe, he or she does not have the option of where to serve (par. 16). North Korean soldiers are forced to serve a decade, so working in a desired department would be greatly appreciated (par. 10). The ten years of service can be very grueling to a soldier. Soldiers are regularly frustrated because they are often used for building city projects—not fighting for their country (par. 24). Since soldiers are not allowed to see their families for the entire decade of service-even for funerals- and junior soldiers cannot have relationships, many soldiers can vent their frustrations only through their actions (par. 23). There have been many cases of soldiers attacking officers, as well as stealing from civilians (par. 21-22). Hostile enlistees create an especially hostile area for women. A female soldier can be threatened to have sex with their commander (par. 21). Not doing so would result in not being allowed to join the party, negating her many years of training (par. 21). Mandatory military service has failed in North Korea. Although soldiers are
Chapters one through twenty-three tell the complete story of the struggles that Shin suffered while growing up. The book follows Shin's life, he grows up in a political prison camp, as he is tortured and finally as he finds freedom. With Shin Dong-hyuk's first-hand account as well as extensive research into North Korea, the reader gains a solid understanding of the horrors of North Korea and its labor camps. The most persuasive part was the younger part of Shin's life.