Rhetorical Devices In Escape From Camp 14

Escape from Camp 14 is the true story of Shin Dong-hyuk, who is the only known person to have been born in and escape from a North Korean labor camp. After numerous interviews, the book’s author, Blaine Harden, details the reader about Shin’s life both inside and outside the camp as he assimilates into different societies. As critical information is revealed, Harden uncovers the corruption in the political landscape in North Korea. Shin’s life in Camp 14 accentuates the struggles to gain basic human freedom and elucidates food as an even more precious commodity. The straightforward diction and intriguing combination of rhetorical devices effectively expresses the brutality and oppression in the North Korean prison camp. As Shin was born in a work intensive political prison, he grew up knowing nothing but the teachings of the guards. Never having experienced a civilized society, he unquestioningly accepting the camp’s authority and called it home. Prisoners were praised on a daily to betray family members and friends for better treatment. Furthermore, family members were punished on one’s behalf to condemn the wrongdoer. A significant portion of this book displays his distant, antagonistic relationship with his family. The concept of family was unusual to him- Shin was separated from his father and brother for months at time, while his interaction

He subtly builds upon Shin’s animosity for his mother. From the very beginning of the novel, Shin never received love from his mother: “his existence as her son had been arranged by the guards” (Harden 17). Another incident within the novel occurs when Shin was forced to starve. Despite acknowledging Shin’s hunger, “His mother was cooking rice. For Shin, this was a slap in the face”(Harden 52). This event accumulates Shin’s growing hatred for his mother and provides him with a reason to betray his mother later on in the