ipl-logo

Theme Of Escape From Camp 14

1481 Words6 Pages

Henry Davis Mr. Herman Global Studies 113 Block 6 25 April 2023 Interconnectedness in Escape from Camp 14 Blaine Harden’s book, Escape from Camp 14, is a book about Shin Dong-hyuk, who escaped from a North Korean labour camp, and life in North Korea as a whole. There are many themes in the book but it greatly emphasises on interconnectedness. The course theme of interconnectedness is shown by relations between countries such as North Korea, South Korea, China, and the United States because of their roles on the international stage, political conflicts, wars, and trade. Harden emphasised this by showing North Korea’s communist dependence on China for aid and food, North Korea’s anti-American propaganda and hatred for the United States, the …show more content…

After World War II, the United States and the Soviet Union divided Korea and occupied it as a trusteeship, however, they could not agree on terms and the country split into one communist and one capitalist. During the Korean War, the U.S. aided South Korea in trying to prevent the spread of communism from the North. This fueled hatred between the North and the U.S. Since then, the North Korean government has viewed the U.S. as a capitalist coloniser, and paints this exact description to all the citizens of North Korea. In addition, North Korea has tried to hurt the U.S. government and economy many times, for example, in the book, Harden states that many high class North Korean agents and operatives have gone to the United States and worked out ways to funnel money to the North Korean government, as well as selling U.S. information and weapons to countries such as Iraq and Syria. Furthermore, the government has brainwashed the citizens of North Korea to think that the United States is a bad capitalist country that is a threat. One example is when Charles Jenkins, a U.S. army sergeant serving in South Korea in 1965, stumbled across the North Korean border and surrendered his rifle to the North Korea soldiers, instead of harming him, the North Korean government decided to turn him into an actor for anti-American propaganda. “The North Korean government turned him into an actor who always played an evil Caucasian face in propaganda movies that demonised the United States,” (Harden 134). This shows the interconnectedness between North Korea and the United States and the hatred from North Korea to the United

Show More
Related
889 Words | 4 Pages

Richard Peters is the co-author of Voices from the Korean War: Personal Stories of American, Korean, and Chinese Soldiers. Along with co-author Xiao-Bing Li, they compile a collection of personal experiences during the Korean War. These personal accounts are told by American, North Korean, South Korean, and Chinese survivors of the war. Both Peters and Li are professors of history at the University of Central Oklahoma; Peters emeritus. While Professor Peters served in the Korean War with the Fifth Regimental Combat Team of the U.S. Army, Professor Li served in China's People Liberation Army.

Read More
769 Words | 4 Pages

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.

Read More
743 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
241 Words | 1 Pages

The Korean War was a proxy war fought between the United States and the USSR, for the purpose of gaining power and political influence in other parts of the world. Since the end of WWII, the USSR and the United States became very hostile against one another, creating what came to be called “The Cold War“ coined by Bernard Baruch in 1947 from the lack of there ever being direct battles against one another. From the result of the bitter and cold rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union came a large chain of indirect battling over political influence in developing or war-torn countries. As this feud occurred the people of the United States mainly wanted there to be a change in Korea out of this war [Doc E], but what was occurring

Read More
688 Words | 3 Pages

Following WWII, the Allied powers split up the Korean peninsula similarly to how Germany had been divided, with the Soviets controlling the North and the US controlling the South. This led to a communist North Korea and non-communist South Korea, and when these two wanted to unify, both wanted to do so on their premises. The North, then attacked the South to take over as a way to unify, leading to a war between the two. The US, as well as other countries, entered the conflict between the nations in order to combat or advocate for the spread of communism. The United States, one of the countries opposing communism under was led at this time by President Harry Truman.

Read More
1928 Words | 8 Pages

Although, it also frequently denotes the various shortcomings of the US recapture and invasion of South Korean and North Korea respectively. This bias does not entirely take away from this excerpt as it is true that the US - South Korean treaty is different from many others and that Korea has since risen to a global economic superpower. This perspective about the Korean legacy resulting from the war shows that not all effects of the Korean war were entirely negative but all positives were hard fought and paid for with the blood, pain and lives of

Read More
1289 Words | 6 Pages

The rising tensions between the United States and North Korea are at an all-time high, it is no news that at any second a full-scale war between these two nations could break out. The consequences of such a war are the endangerment of the lives of millions of people in multiple nations. Nicholas Kristof’s opinion piece “Inside North Korea, and Feeling the Drums of War,” published in the New York Times Sunday Review, serves as an emotional overload purposely written to warn the audience of just how tense the relations between these two Nations have become, as well as the reality of a possible catastrophic conflict between them if concessions are not drawn to ease tensions. Kristof adopts an urgent tone in his article that he uses to stir up

Read More
672 Words | 3 Pages

One thing, in the book I discovered was “North Korea was known as byzantine system of social controls” (Demick, 2009). I also found out that “North Korea was 13th in economic power” (Demick, 2009).So much brainwashing occurred that the people in the book even believed that North Korea was a good place, even, with everything that went on. North Korea being communist equal restrictions. The governments being unsuccessful in healthcare provision, educational system.

Read More
534 Words | 3 Pages

Both “Postwar Reconstruction and a Declaration of Self-reliance, 1953-55” by Charles Armstrong and “North Korea’s Vinalon City: Industrialism as Socialist Everyday Life” by Cheehyung Kim focus on the post-Korean War reconstruction of North Korea as a model of the socialist economic development. The authors analyze the rise of North Korea as a showcase of socialist industrialization with “fraternal” supports from the whole Eastern Bloc, the role of this rapid` industrialization in consolidating Kim Il Sung’s power, and external and internal backgrounds behind the North’s gradual transition from an externally dependent economy to an autarky after the initial years of industrialization. Armstrong argues that “fraternal” assistances from the USSR, the PRC, and the Eastern European countries as well as its strict adherence to Stalinist economic programs with the heavy emphasis on heavy industries were the two biggest characteristics of the rapid industrialization of North Korea. Armstrong summarizes, “through a combination of tremendous work and sacrifice on the part of the North Korean people, generous economic and technical assistance from the “fraternal” socialist countries, and the

Read More
861 Words | 4 Pages

Elie Wiesel once said that “The duty of the survivor is to bear testimony to what happened... You have to warn people that these things can happen, that evil can be unleashed. Race hatred, violence, idolatries-- they still flourish.” This quote summarizes how the North Korean citizens worked their hardest to get out of the North Korean territory to be able to tell the world what has been going on in North Korea. For over fifty years, one family has governed North Korea for the entity of its existence (Sarah Pruitt).

Read More
233 Words | 1 Pages

A way for tobacco to reach other nations was through travellers and through colonization. Travellers were a main source for people and colonies to get a taste of global products. Not just contained to tobacco but even sugar, or spices, and silk. Travellers were the bridge between nations. Portugal is an example of this movement of tobacco to other nations.

Read More
493 Words | 2 Pages

Barbara Demick has developed the idea that North Korea “has fallen out of the developed world” by providing several examples of life as analytical ways of thoughts and processes of North Koreans in comparison to other countries

Read More
717 Words | 3 Pages

As an American, we cannot comprehend the types of laws that are enforced upon North Korean Citizens. A few bizarre controlment rules that I still struggle to comprehend myself are there are only twenty-eight ways North Korean men and women can cut their hair, North Korean Men and Women are not allowed to own a bible or any western literature, and also there are only three channels on tv and you must only watch those. Along with those laws in place, the North Korean government has control over education and news which leads to many growing up to hate other countries besides their own with no reasoning behind their hatred. Our lives along with many others are still being affected by the iron grip of societal norms.

Read More
2022 Words | 9 Pages

After the split and prior to the Korean War, there were many conflicts between the North and South. The 38th Parallel exemplified the growing tension between the North and South, as between 1948 and the initial invasion of South Korea in 1950, there were around 10,000 deaths that took place at the border, displaying that violence and division were escalating between South and North Korea. Using realist theories of international relations, we can begin to explain the actions taken by North and South Korea prior to and during war, as well as the reasons why foreign intervention took place. First, realism itself must be discussed. Realism is a theory that is based on the belief that politics amid nations are and will always be, about power and

Read More
1214 Words | 5 Pages

Located in East Asia, the Republic of Korea, better known as South Korea, is the southern portion of the Korean peninsula. South Korea borders the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) to the north, the Sea of Japan to the east, East China Sea to the south, and the Yellow Sea to the west. The country of South Korea has been one of the United States’ (US) greatest allies, with both countries benefitting from each other’s resources and tactical advantage. This cultural analysis of the country will cover some of the positive and negative ways the US has affected South Korea’s military, social/political, and economical variables and the importance of US presence in the country. South Korea is mostly mountainous, with small rural settlements and villages spread throughout the mountains and river valleys, and an increasing urban population living in large cities like Seoul and Busan, which are resident to a contemporary culture.

Read More

More about Theme Of Escape From Camp 14

Related Topics

Open Document