Cranes By Hwang SunWon: Analysis of the Short Story

Have you ever felt that your opinions and beliefs opposed the wider set of beliefs held by your society? In the narrative “Shakespeare In The Bush”, Laura Bohannan explores this exact topic -- whether or not the opinions humans hold are universal in nature. Bohannan argues human nature is universal throughout the world regarding Shakespeare’s ‘Hamlet’. Bohannan gets a chance to confirm this idea during her stay with the Tiv tribe in Africa, despite the society being a drastic contrast to her modern setting. However, Laura Bohannan did not successfully prove that Shakespeare was universally intelligible with her with the Tiv. She figured that the Tivs interpretation of Hamlet is not connected to the human nature, rather the differences of their culture and traditions impacted their analysis of Hamlet.

In both of the short stories, “Cranes”, written by Hwang Sun-Won and translated by Peter H. Lee and “Saboteur”, by Ha Jin, the authors address Bohannan’s concept, focusing on whether or not this notion exists within an authoritarian government. In “Cranes”, there is a conflict between the political systems of communism and republicanism the individuals in the country must decide which they pledge complete allegiance to. “Saboteur” takes place in China, directly after the Cultural Revolution enforced by Chairman Mao, who advocated for communism and the abolition of capitalist beliefs. This led to the corruption of the nation and the creation unjust society due to the rules and regulations enforced on the Republic Of China. “Shakespeare In The Bush”’s notion that human nature is the same throughout the world is inaccurate, since the literary works of “Cranes” and “Saboteur” both demonstrate the towering influence the government and political figures attempt to have on their civilians.

Cranes by Hwang Sunwon: summary

In the text "Cranes," written by Hwang Sun-Won and translated by Peter H. Lee, the author dismisses the notion that the opinions held by individuals are universal in nature, shown as he addresses Song Sam’s defiance of the republican state of South Korea. The author connects the present day situation and the past of Song-Sam and Tokchae, by signifying that they were childhood friends and turned enemies due to the consequences of the Korean war. The two spent valuable time with one another within the 38th parallel, splits Song-sam and Tok-chae apart, as both a physical and emotional barrier is formed between the two. These barriers are formed during the political and territorial divide between the Korean state, as Song-sam flees to South Korea’s republic and Tok-chae remains with the communistic North. These barriers are broken when the two are face to face with another, as Tok-chae has been arrested and taken by Song-sam for execution.

Since pledging allegiance requires one to follow the jurisdiction of the government, this begs the question of whether the ideas of individualism, moral obligation, and personal responsibility are altered under this rule. Hwang Sun-Won writes,

"'So you managed to kill many, eh?' Song-sam felt his heart becoming clear from within as if an obstruction had been removed. 'If you were vice-chairman of the Communist League, why didn’t you run? You must have been lying low with a secret mission.' Tok-chae did not answer. 'Speak up, what is your mission?' Tok-chae kept walking. Tok-chae is hiding something, Song-sam thought. He wanted to take a good look at him, but Tok-chae would not turn his averted face" (Hwang Sun-Won pg. 2).

In this scene, the readers can sense the development of emotional tension between Tok-Chae and Song-Sam which was not present prior to now. The people of Korea made a decision to either stay North or to stay South, but that decision led to following a new government and a new ideology. That very government is what provoked Song-Sam to say the things that he said, revealing how his ideas and claims are fair from the truth.

The Korean War had split two groups of people apart and Song-Sam ideology and has been seemingly transformed psychologically during his time under the South Korean government. Why else would someone treat his or her childhood friend in such a manner? This scene is distinguished as part of the rising actions of the story and the metaphor being described here compares Song-Sam’s past self to his current transformed state -- how one can appear to be altered by an individual or group individuals, but that can be far from the truth. An example of behaviorism, or he altering of the beliefs of a group of people through the state of conditioning, is propaganda and regulations. Many of the opinions one possesses stem from some sort of propaganda, this even applies to our modern day. Effectively allowing a government to influence an audience, in this case its citizens, without them ever becoming aware of this. Despite this, author Hwang Sun-Won addresses Song-Sam resisting the influence of the government and upholding the values he had always possessed with,

"Only then did Tok-chae catch on. He started crawling among the weeds.

A couple of Tanjong cranes soared high into the clear blue autumn sky, fluttering their huge wings" (Hwang Sun-Won pg. 4).

Hwang Sun-won utilizes this moment to convey the realization that Song-sam has regarding his stance in the Korean War. A government is intended to serve for the best interests for its citizens, ‘not an alien power over us’ (Franklin D,Roosevelt). The resolution of the story is one many expect, Tok-chae is set free and has no fear of being executed. However, Song-Sam has became symbol in this narrative, a crane. Since Tok-chae and Song-sam’s childhood, the cranes have remained in their ponds, not being affected by the current setting and political events that have occured.

The cranes have maintained their behavior, paralleling what Song-Sam has done when he decides that his friendship towards Tok-chae has never been gone. The political schism present in “Cranes”, plays unique dynamic of the setting influence of individualism under an authoritarian government and play the role of one result of the examination, with different settings that could be introduced and result in varying experiences for the individuals and the society.

Saboteur by Ha Jin

Ha Jin characterizes the transgression of the Chinese government laws and regulations through the intellectual, Mr. Chiu, who serves as evidence to why Laura Bohannan notation to why Laura Bohannan’s claim about universality in humans is unfactual. The current setting that Mr. Chiu is in the politically corrupt China, under the rule of Chairman Mao. Communism is intended to create a society with equal and political status between its citizens, but within China however, it is far from achieving this goal. Ha Jin the Chinese American writer explores the corrupt nature of the Chinese government with,

“As they were talking, the stout policeman at the next table stood up and threw a bowl of tea in their direction. Both Mr. Chiu's and his bride's sandals were wet instantly. Mr. Chiu got to his feet and said out loud, ‘Comrade policeman, why did you do this?’ He stretched out his right foot to show the wet sandal.

With a wave of his hand, the man said to the young fellow, ‘Let's get hold of him’ ” (Ha Jin 4).

This quote is attempting to convey that Mao and his officials were unabashedly corrupt individuals who serve the purpose of upholding the so-called social order Mao had created themselves. The rising actions of this story interestingly use a metaphor to show a clear distinction from the expository section of the narrative. Mr. Chiu’s sandals that are ruined by police officials symbolize his character emotional state from a positive to being abruptly disrupted into a distressed and emotional mindset. This situation is a clear example of irony because Mr. Chiu and his wife are simply waiting near the train station to leave their honeymoon from Muji. Yet, the police officers who accuse Song-sam of disrupting order, are the ones who do this in the first place. Communism resulted in very few individual rights for citizens, which meant that the police officers took advantage of this and end up being the ones who break them the most.

References

1. Hwang, Sun-won. "Cranes." Translated by Peter H. Lee, University of Hawai'i Press, 1983.
2. Ha, Jin. "Saboteur." In The Bridegroom: Stories, Pantheon Books, 2000.
3. Chan, Jennifer Jung-Kim. "Saboteur." The Explicator, vol. 61, no. 2, 2003, pp. 107-109.
4. Lee, Hye Jeong. "Hwang Sun-won's 'Cranes': The Paradox of National Division." Journal of Asian Studies, vol. 50, no. 1, 1991, pp. 7-21.
5. Loughran, Tracy. "Teaching 'Cranes' by Hwang Sunwon: A Resource Guide." Asian Literature in English, vol. 34, no. 2, 2002, pp. 147-161.
6. Kim, Soom Yung, and Ruth Y. Hsu. "Reading the Other and the Self: Narrative Distance in Hwang Sunwon's 'Cranes.'" Korean Studies, vol. 25, no. 2, 2001, pp. 145-166.