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Shin Dong-Hhoyuk's Escape From Camp 14 Blaine Harden

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Isabelle Newman Mrs. Whitney INST 200 20 May 2024 Escape from Camp 14 Blaine Harden, the author of Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West wrote this book based on his interviews with the main character, Shin Dong-hyuk. Shin was born and raised in the North Korean political prison camp, Camp 14. Shin rewarded his parents with “reward” for doing well in their jobs. Shin explained how his experiences there were brutal, and included starvation, little learning, and hard tasks. Shin explained how this was his life, it was his normal worldview. Shin was the only known man to escape Camp 14 alive, he even talked about how some of his family had tried and they were murdered right in front of him for …show more content…

Blaine explains how Shin had little freedom in these camps, which caused a multitude of issues with Shin. Shin had a hard time trusting anyone and always felt like he had to do certain things. He struggled to trust me. As he readily admits, he struggles to trust anemones. It is an inescapable part of how he was raised. Huards taught him to sell out his parents and friends, and he assumes everyone he meets will sell him out in turn” (10). Shin grew up in a place of no freedom and even reported to guards anything he noticed, even if it was family. Unlike Shin, learning to appreciate our freedom can be a great life lesson as it shows the right to basic human needs. Acknowledging trauma can be a valuable life lesson. Shin underwent some major trauma, as he describes throughout the book. Trauma can have some lasting effects on people depending on what happened. Acknowledging someone’s trauma can save their lives. Shin explained that “To ask for forgiveness in Camp 14, he said, was ‘to beg not to be punished’” (6). Shin’s whole experience at Camp 14 was traumatic for him, and learning how to cope and deal with PTSD and the health effects of trauma could help people who have gone through a lot like Shin

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