Book Talk

1. Do you feel Eva writing these letters have any significant meaning to her husband Franklin? 

I would say in a sense yes, because she tends to sound agitated when she is writing these letters. It could possibly be due to her husband’s constant denial that their son is a psychopath. It could also mean she is blaming him for loving this monster of a child, or how he didn’t listen to her from the beginning. How she never wanted to have children, but ultimately chose her husband’s happiness over hers. 

2. Is Franklin even receiving the letters or is he just allowing her to write more? 

I believe Franklin is dead, so he isn’t receiving them. Rather Eva is writing these letters to herself. Ranting about Kevin and the murders he committed, her disgust for mothering a child like him, or it can be her anger that because of him she gave birth to Kevin. 

3. Is this book another piece of literature or does it somewhat help the mothers of school shooters? 

Two professors from McGill came to hear about our books and how they tie into our social justice paper. Brandon, William, and I had a similar topic. I chose to write about the atrocities happening in North Korea, William wrote about refugees in general, and Brandon wrote a similar paper like William. Here we discussed to one of the professors our thoughts about this book, how philosophy plays a huge factor for this memoir. Survival of the fittest and of course Plato’s allegory of the cave. The professor soon asked us if this was worth reading and should others read it to get a general idea. We all told her it was necessary because these are real life events and they are happening to this day, someone is being sent to a camp, someone is being executed, someone is being raped, mutilated, tortured, and someone is probably trying to escape all this madness. 

5. Chapters 20-22

Shin finally is free, he has left North Korea and is now bound for South Korea. These chapters to talk about Shin’s PTSD, and his guilt. He is happy that he can eat all the food his heart desires but that won’t bring him happiness. He is guilt ridden from his experiences at the camp and for his father. Who’s current status is unknown, he feels selfish for living the new lifestyle while tens of thousands are still in the camp, suffering a fate worse than death. It has been difficult for him to live this way, but as time goes on he must do the people of North Korea proud and live his life freely and without any oppression. 

6. Chapter 23 

5. We read the novel Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky. It basically is about a man who kills this elderly woman and her sister for vengeance. He later has nightmares and guilt for the murders and begins to have this sudden moral conscience. He becomes so guilt ridden, he turns himself in to the police. 

This goes back to Shin, a man who was born inside one of North Korea’s worst prison camps. Here he learned to survive only by ratting others out to the guards for an additional meal, he even went as far to rat out his own mother and brother who were conspiring to escape the camp. Which would result in their deaths if caught, hoping to get more rations for the day he told the guard of the plan, Much later, he is brought to the execution grounds and sees his brother and mother. He watches them both die, and they died because of him. Now to him it was an obligation that he would report the escape plot, but it wasn’t until much later after he escapes the camp that he suffers a fate worse than death. The guilt of allowing this to happen and the consequences for his father who in fact, is possibly dead. He had been so damaged he had to be hospitalized, he hadn’t told anyone that he was responsible for his mother and brother’s deaths, but when he did he felt this relief in himself for harboring this for so long. 

7.  “To that end, the center has a staff that includes psychologists, career counselors, and teachers of everything from world history to drivers education. There are also doctors, nurses, and dentists. Over a three-month stay, defectors learn their rights under South Korean law and go on field trips to shopping centers, banks, and subway stations." (Chapter 21) 

This goes back to all the North Korean defectors, they may need to be hospitalized. It may have to do with the brainwashing the regime does on its people with all its outrageous propaganda. Or it could have to do with PTSD, they have seen some horrible things and they have been so emotionally damaged because of it. 

8. "He cannot enjoy his life when there are people suffering in the camps. He sees happiness as selfishness."

So as previously mentioned from one of my questions. He has been so emotionally damaged from his experiences at the camp he had to be hospitalized himself, and his selfishness comes from the thought of the other political prisoners in the camp, and again comes back to the execution of his mother and brother. He doesn’t feel he should be alive and that he should of died with them, this continues to haunt him to this day, but I feel he is trying to abandon all the darkness. 

9. "Shin started to have disturbing dreams.  He saw his mother hanged, Parks body on the fence, and visualized the torture he believed his father was subjected to after his escape. As the nightmares continued, he dropped out of a course in automobile repair. He did not take Driver’s Ed. He stopped eating. He struggled to sleep. He was all but paralyzed by guilt."

7.  Even though Park is dead, how has Park helped Shin even now? Without Park, would Shin have ever gathered the courage or knowledge to escape?

I would say no, because the thought of escaping has never crossed his mind until he met Park, he even ratted out his own mother and brother for conspiring to escape. It was the thought of barbecue pig, and broiled chicken. Having as much food as you want, gave this man the inspiration to escape and live to tell the tale. 

8.  Why does Shin blame himself for the things he is feeling guilty over?

He finally has this sudden regret. The regret he was harboring for so many years. The guilt that he is responsible for his mother and brother and possibly his father’s executions. His mother and brother being the core of his guilt while the thought of his father being executed because he had escaped. No one knows if his father is still alive or had been executed. I have a great connection which I will mention later. 

9.  Why does Shin feel selfish when he tries to enjoy his life?

So for our second literature circle we discussed Shin’s escape from the camp (how ironic) and how he was granted asylum into South Korea and had begun his new life as free man. 

 The early parts of Shin’s life, the first image was when the guards beat a six year old girl for having a few kernels of corn in her pocket. At that school they were taught the “Ten Commandments” which all resulted in death if you break one of the rules, the second image still happens to this day for those in the camps. As food is very scarce, not everyone can be fed sometimes when they have enough they don’t get fed. So they result in searching for rats, insects, and searching through cow dung for kernels of corn. The third image speaks for itself, Shin’s biggest painful memory the execution of his mother and brother, and who caused it? He did. 

3. Chapters 11-15 

Shin is still recovering from his mother and brother’s executions, along with the seven months of torture he had to endure from the guards who presumed he knew about their escape. Shin works at the pig farm from 1999-2003 which he describes as “relaxing” probably has to do with him eating vegetables and pork which is not allowed for the prisoners and if they were caught, they would be executed immediately. Soon Shin goes to work at the garment’s factory fixing up old machines, however one day he drops and breaks one of the machines resulting the amputation of his right middle finger at the first knuckle. He is soon assigned to spy on the new prisoner Park, who is an educated man who studied in East Germany, the Soviet Union, and lived in the North Korean capital Pyongyang. At this point of the story, Shin finally thinks freely and chooses not to spy on Park anymore and plots his escape with him. Shin has been following orders all his life, which resulted in the deaths of his brother and mother, his father’s sorrow, the last seven months of imprisonment, beatings, amputation you name it. He just wants to escape from the camp, begin a new life in South Korea and eat all the food the world has to offer. 

4. Chapters 16-20

3. I was watching VlogBrothers and I stumbled upon John Green’s video on Escape From Camp 14. Like all of their videos, they are able to explain books more better than I ever could and they’re famous. What’s not to love? Anyways for those who are interested in learning more about this book and have a famous author explain it to you, you should definitely watch it. 

4.  The second video again is from the VlogBrothers, but Hank Green takes the reins for this one. Here we learn more about North Korea, and their motives for the future. Why they hate the U.S. so much, and their atrocious crimes against humanity. 

4. "The miracle of Shin’s friendship with Park is how quickly it blew up the box. Park’s spirit, his dignity, and his incendiary information gave Shin something that was both enthralling and unbearable: a context, a way to dream about the future.  He suddenly understood where he was and what he was missing. Camp 14 was no longer home. It was an abhorrent cage, and Shin now had a well-traveled, broad-shouldered friend to help him get out." (Chapter 13, pg. 107-108) 

Shin meeting Park was the most important aspect in his life. Park introduced him to a world he never knew about. He opened up Shin’s imagination allowing him to be open minded to the thought of escape. Though he began thinking about his mother and brother, he still decided he was going to escape. 

5. "What he remembers most clearly about crawling through the fence was that Park’s body smelled like it was burning." (Chapter 15, pg. 118) 

This is very important because the only reason Shin survived crossing the fence, was because Park went first. Shin was in front the entire time, but he lost his footing causing Park to take lead and use up all his strength to pull down the fence which resulted in Park being electrocuted, now cold weather usually reduces conductivity, and having multiple pieces of clothing can also help but due to their excessive sweating it reopened their pores resulting in high voltage electrocution for Park. Smelling Park’s body stood out to him so much maybe because he felt bad, but he had no choice but to continue forward with his escape.

6.  "Shin could not have escaped North Korea without an abundance of luck, especially at the border. As he bribed his way toward China in late January 2005, a window happened to be open, allowing relatively low-risk illegal passage across the border." (Chapter 18, pg. 142) 

4. What prompted Shin to finally say enough was enough and would lead him to escape?

It had to do with Park’s tales about his life in Pyongyang, and the amount of food he’s eaten. This is the driving cause for Shin’s escape from the camp, he was so intoxicated by the foods Park had consumed during his life. Which is funny because you would expect someone like Shin to see freedom from outside the camp and see the real North Korea, but no. He plans his escape for broiled chicken and barbecue pork.

5.  Why does Shin refuse to take the flour that was intended for him from his father?

It has to do with the bad blood *cue Taylor Swift picture* between Shin and his father, he blames his father for everything that has happened to him. His mother and brother’s execution which resulted him being locked away in a secret underground prison at the camp for nearly seven months where he was tortured. The guards had his arms and legs tied vertically and lit a coal fire beneath him and hung him up there like a rotisserie chicken, it could also have to do with his father causing the damage to the family, as he was the one who came to the camp because he was a traitor. Who knows. 

6.  How was North Korea's political setbacks a beneficial factor for Shin’s journey through North Korea?

Today we had our first literature circle regarding the novel Escape From Camp 14 by Blaine Harden. I have read this book almost ten times over the past three years of owning it, so I came very prepared for this discussion. What really struck me however, was how Brandon and William had their very own perspective for Shin’s story. Now William believed we have two perspectives, one being Shin Dong-hyuk himself and Blaine Harden. With these two individuals we see how North Korean culture is completely normal to Shin while Harden sees them as atrocious acts against humanity, not to mention the isolation factor altering Shin’s view of morality after witnessing all these executions occur in his life. 

Brandon brought up the point of how we can relate this back to philosophy and Darwin’s theory. Survival of the fittest plays an important aspect in this man’s odyssey, Shin views his mother as a means for food, not caring whether or not she has eaten or not but rather giving himself all the food as it is very scarce in the camp. I then brought up how later on he rats out his mother and brother for plotting to escape, now when I first read the book. I was shocked that he would commit such a crime against his family, it was only after two years where we started learning about different philosophers and how they view the world with its laws. Shin had a obligation to rat out his mother and brother otherwise he would be executed for not alerting the guards beforehand. 

We also discussed the heinous acts of torture being committed against these prisoners, forced abortions, complete isolation, mutilation, you name it. We also created a spectrum on how the North Korean Government overrules the guards who overrule the prisoners. Quite the hierarchy if you ask me. 

Here 15,000 wrongly convicted people are isolated in this hellhole, in this collection of houses, fields, factories surrounded by an electrified fence. Satellite images are the only way of actually seeing the camp itself. 

1. I have read this book almost ten times, I bought in 2014 and the first time I read it, I was completely shocked, my jaw opened throughout the first 50 pages, one part in particular had to do with a little girl being beaten to death for having a few kernels of corn in her pocket, “The Ten Commandments” of the prison camp end with being “shot immediately” for theft, plotting to escape, lying, having sex. Truly unbelievable, it’s been almost three years and I still get the goosebumps.