Today, I believe we are living in an extremely polarized world divided by two mutually antagonizing groups, such as the left and the right, the rich and the poor, or the young and the old. Like a chronic disease, I argue the enmity between each of these contrasting groups plagues our society that seems to edge towards civil war as a result. Although polarization has become a global phenomenon these days, it seems to be especially persistent and acute in the Korean political climate.
Recently, I came across a novel that insightfully delves into the above issues in our society. The novel was “A New Beginning Every Day” by Suh Yong-jwa, who won Korea’s PEN Award in 2017. In her mesmerizing novel, Suh painfully diagnoses the maladies of our society by bringing up major historical events in the light of hate, violence and ideological warfare.
In her acceptance speech for the 2024 Pak Kyongni Prize in Seoul, the prominent French novelist Sylvie Germain said that unlike historical studies, which provide knowledge of events only, “the art of the novel enlivens this knowledge by giving it bodies, faces, and uniqueness, creating empathy and inducing reflection.” Suh’s novel, “A New Beginning Every Day,” is a remarkable page-turner that has accomplished precisely what Sylvie Germain mentioned above.
The novel’s protagonist, Ji-eun, is a nurse-aid who works at a sanatorium for senior citizens. Rather than working inside the sanatorium, Ji Eun prefers making house visits as a nurse-aid and thus, encounters a variety of senior citizens who need help. While conversing with them, Ji-eun comes to learn about many accumulated historical and social problems of her country.
At the same time, Ji-eun herself offers the perspective of a young woman on the older people she is taking care of. From the novel, therefore, the reader can hear remarkably balanced voices about major political and social incidents that have disrupted our society.
Indeed, Suh’s novel brings up a series of incidents of political turmoil that has shaken South Korea, such as the Korean War, two military coups and the Gwangju Democratic Movement. Through the reminiscences of the older generation, Suh’s riveting novel powerfully indicts the ruthless state violence that oppressed people’s freedoms and even resulted in massacres. In Suh’s eyes, even having to quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic was a good example of state repression.
However, in Suh’s novel, older people do not simply complain; they are wise enough to penetrate into the deceiving surface of the historical events. For example, an old woman tells the young protagonist that those who have swords and guns have always used violence in the name of “justice.”
The old woman also mentions that in early Catholic martyrdom, both the killers and the martyrs believed that they represented “justice.” However, “justice” is arbitrary, depending on who uses the term. Oftentimes, “revenge” also dons the mask of “justice.” The old woman tells Ji-eun that blind faith, too, cannot be justice.
In the above novel, an old man rightly perceives that even though most anti-government demonstrators are innocent and good, there may be some agitators among them who can benefit from political chaos.
The young protagonist, Ji-eun, too, is not impetuous but wise and calm. She always values common sense. For example, she casts doubt upon the appropriateness of the 20-year prison sentence for the impeached ex-president. She also defends capitalism and is proud of South Korea’s dramatic economic success.
In the novel, a terminated, hence vengeful, former college instructor wrote a book, in which he writes, “All the rich people are bad. How could they make such big money without harming others?” However, the protagonist does not subscribe to such oversimplification or stereotyping. She thinks that there are many honest men who have become rich by working hard, not by harming others.
Ji-eun also witnesses the miserable predicament of many older people in our society. She says that hospices resemble “a prison without amnesty,” and thus, abandoning your elderly parents there is like practicing a modern-day Goryeo-funeral, referring to a Goryeo-era (935-1392) burial custom of leaving one’s elderly parents to die on a mountain.
“A New Beginning Every Day” illustrates well the ways in which we can build a better society, overcoming past psychic wounds and psychological grudges. One way is “to listen to each other between different generations, social classes and political factions.” Another is “ to overcome our prejudice, antagonism and wrongful conviction that I am right and all others are wrong.”
Despite many unsolved historical controversies and disheartening circumstances in our society, the protagonist of Suh’s novel suggests that we should not despair, keep showing vital signs and start a new beginning every day.
South Korea has endured years of inner turmoil and in my view now seems to plunge into virtual anarchy due to a series of impeachments. In 2025, we should make a new beginning, overcoming the recent sociopolitical disruptions and ordeals.
Kim Seong-kon
Kim Seong-kon is a professor emeritus of English at Seoul National University and a visiting scholar at Dartmouth College. The views expressed here are the writer’s own. -- Ed.
