This month I begin with Ch'ae Man-Shik's short story "A Ready-Made Life" translated by Kim Chong-un and Bruce Fulton. It was first published in 1934 in the journal Shindonga. As for the writer, he is a novelist, an essayist, and a critic, often considered a satirist. His works are widely known.
As for the short story itself, I came across it as a follower of ktlit.com. A website dedicated to the translation and dissemination of Korean literature.
The story itself immediately opens with an interview. P is an unemployed, educated man being interviewed and denied by K. The context of the drama is within the early 20th century, the dawn of modernization, after the rise of intellectuals and a propagation of education, post-Japanese Imperial Period, during the evident domination of Japan over Korea. Now, from the rejection given to P proceeds a dejected summation of his living situation, the harsh condition in which he is forced to live, eating sparingly, not being able to pay his room rent, leading a meagerly existence, etc. I add that the description and the existential manner in which the character recounts his surroundings and his life has a touch of Dostoyevsky. P is also a divorced man with a son. Although his son does not live with him at the opening of the story, it is made clear that due to his family's inability to continue to care for him, they will be sending P's son over to him in Seoul. Yet they do not know that P is hardly able to support himself as he has not found a job.
In the trajectory of the story there are very few characters presented, the two introduced after P, are also unemployed and hopeless, friends of the protagonist. Both have likewise been educated and are intellectual men. The dejection of all the characters is poignantly felt. And the irony is that being educated and an intellectual is a void endeavor leading to unemployment. The stark line between the country as a passing farming nation, and moving unto becoming modernized is evident. The job market is saturated, yet those that have been educated cannot make themselves nor even know how to go about retroceding and forming part of the farming population. The educated intellectuals are displaced.
Drunk and in a bar, P and both of his friends go to a brothel. There P is thrown, by his two friends, towards a young prostitute. He panics and runs out when she is willing to sell her integrity, her sex, for a beggarly price. This leads to a digression on the worth of integrity, in which P spends a considerable time debating.
The story ends in an ambiguous manner. It is clear P does not want his son to be educated and fall into the same trap he himself fell and therefor, what becomes of P as he takes in his son is left open-ended.
Why do I recommend this short story by Ch'ae Man-Shik? Because the themes, albeit during a time that has passed, are still relevant today. The tone of P's hopelessness, the use of education during unstable economic times, the value of a person's integrity in regards to money, are all still current. How much is integrity and virtue worth?
As for the short story itself, I came across it as a follower of ktlit.com. A website dedicated to the translation and dissemination of Korean literature.
The story itself immediately opens with an interview. P is an unemployed, educated man being interviewed and denied by K. The context of the drama is within the early 20th century, the dawn of modernization, after the rise of intellectuals and a propagation of education, post-Japanese Imperial Period, during the evident domination of Japan over Korea. Now, from the rejection given to P proceeds a dejected summation of his living situation, the harsh condition in which he is forced to live, eating sparingly, not being able to pay his room rent, leading a meagerly existence, etc. I add that the description and the existential manner in which the character recounts his surroundings and his life has a touch of Dostoyevsky. P is also a divorced man with a son. Although his son does not live with him at the opening of the story, it is made clear that due to his family's inability to continue to care for him, they will be sending P's son over to him in Seoul. Yet they do not know that P is hardly able to support himself as he has not found a job.
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| Japanese woodblock print, The First Sino-Japanese War. Japan in Korea. Source: http://www.japanfocus.org/-Wada-Haruki/2934 |
"Ready-made commodities turned shopworn."The story can be divided in two seamless parts, the first if the already described rejection during the interview and the description of P's existence, then, P's confrontation with a prostitute.
Drunk and in a bar, P and both of his friends go to a brothel. There P is thrown, by his two friends, towards a young prostitute. He panics and runs out when she is willing to sell her integrity, her sex, for a beggarly price. This leads to a digression on the worth of integrity, in which P spends a considerable time debating.
The story ends in an ambiguous manner. It is clear P does not want his son to be educated and fall into the same trap he himself fell and therefor, what becomes of P as he takes in his son is left open-ended.
Why do I recommend this short story by Ch'ae Man-Shik? Because the themes, albeit during a time that has passed, are still relevant today. The tone of P's hopelessness, the use of education during unstable economic times, the value of a person's integrity in regards to money, are all still current. How much is integrity and virtue worth?
"You can't put your heart into work if your stomach is empty."The story itself can be found here, in PDF form. It is well worth a read.
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