The Continuing Resonance of the Han River…"When the Dead Save the Living"
The novel "Boys Come Over" is a full-length novel that tells the story of victims, including Dongh, a middle school student who lost his life at the hands of the martial law troops during the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement.
"Boys Come Over" was his turning point. He embarked on extensive research, stating his intention to write a novel directly addressing the 1980 Gwangju Uprising. Every time he changed his notebook, the question he wrote on the first page was, 'Can the present help the past? Can the living save the dead?'
The more he read, the more this question seemed impossible to answer. As he delved deeper into Gwangju, his faith in humanity wavered. Then, in the diary of Park Yong-jun, a night school teacher who was a victim of the martial law troops, he found the sentence, "God, why do I have a conscience that pricks and hurts me so? I want to live." He said that upon discovering this, he knew like a bolt of lightning which direction his novel should take. He then reversed the two questions.
He then reverses the two questions.
'Can the past help the present? Can the dead save the living?'
He said that while writing "Boys Come Over," there were moments when he truly felt that the past was helping the present and that the dead were saving the living.
(https://www.nocutnews.co.kr/news/6264806, CBS Nocutnews, Kim Min-su, December 20, 2024)
Han Kang, the author of ‘Han River’, posed the question in her novel ‘Boys Come Over’: Can the dead save the living?In the modern history of South Korea, the Gwangju Democratization Movement (1980) resulted in the loss of many lives, and the precious blood shed by young people like Park Jong-chul and Lee Han-yeol (1987) formed the foundation for the establishment of freedom and democracy in South Korea today.
And the people of South Korea today enjoy freedom thanks to the precious price they paid.
The death and resurrection of Jesus on the cross is a core doctrine in Christianity.Jesus, born in Israel, a Roman protectorate, in his early thirties, as the Son of God, carried out his public ministry until he was crucified, a cursed instrument, by the Jewish leaders and their followers.
Although he died, through his disciples, Jesus conveyed the message that he came to bring light to the darkness of this world as the Son of God. Therefore, those who believe in him and in God’s work through him can obtain eternal life.
There are various religions in this world, each with its own truth or law, but the Gospel of Jesus offers hope of eternal life to those who are born as human beings on this earth and who ultimately live and die, ending their lives in futility.
‘Although Han Kang is not a Christian, she may have already grasped the core doctrines of Christianity.
December 24, 2024, Cham Gil
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