Literary Devices In Lost Names

The novel Lost Names by Richard Kim gives a glimpse of Korea during the period in which Japan had colonized it and had been conquering a plethora of other Asian countries. It follows the life of a young boy as he and his family live in the colonized country of Korea and speaks of how their lives were effected. The writing is accomplished in giving testimony to the occupation of the Japanese of Korea and its people and the ways in which they enforced allegiance to Japan. By means of policy, law, and everyday practices the Japanese attempted to create an allegiance to themselves from the Koreans; while the majority of these succeeded at some level they also created a deep set hatred by the people because of the oppressive practices used. Many

The same tactics used to make the Korean’s obedient also created a hatred among the people instead of creating a people that were grateful or content in any way. Strategies used that were previously mentioned, such as the elimination of Korean culture, with the addition of those that installed fear into the people that blanketed Korea in suffering. With the people’s culture and identity being taken away, the addition of fear and oppression added to the anguish of country. Fear was instilled by means of people being “forced out of their land and their homes by the Japanese, who are buying up land cheaply by threat and coercion” (Kim, p.17). The people also had the fear that by saying the wrong thing or getting on someone wrong side they would face grave consequences. An example of this is the beginning of Kim’s writing when he mentions how “a lot of Korean men were arrested and interrogated, and many have not yet returned home” (p.12). With the addition of fear the Koreans were also oppressed greatly by the Japanese by means of taking away the livelihood of the people. The book spoke of how rice and meat and scarce for the people because those who farm and have livestock are made to sell to the Japanese at a cut-rate and then it’s taken to Japan. This fear and oppression implemented on the Koreans created hated and suffering which in turn would have the opposite effect on the people of what the Japanese were trying to