The author has taken the side of Korea. Is it justifiable?

Use this forum to discuss the January 2021 Book of the month, "The Vanished" by Pejay Bradley
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Re: The author has taken the side of Korea. Is it justifiable?

Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Bridgetbruso99 wrote: 17 Jan 2021, 13:50 Because it is told in perspective from a family that was once Korean royalty I do think that it is justified. The author was very good at explaining what transpired to drive the characters to their opinions about Japan and their attempts at trying to preserve their history and heritage in their new world.
Maybe the royal lineage of the author has led her to think in the way that she thought and to convey it via the characters that she made. Yet, it is her own opinion regarding the Japanese. She can think what she wants and that is justified.

But what I am asking is, is it justifiable when the author conveys her thoughts to a wide audience and letting some of them to think of the Japanese as same as she does?
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

CambaReviewer wrote: 17 Jan 2021, 15:09 Whether it is justifiable or not depends on which side of the story you are looking at. There are always several sides to every story. That is why there is the concept 'point of view' in writing and the way the story unfolds depends on who is doing the narration. The author has the prerogative to take any side so it is justified in my opinion. If another author wants to provide clarity by writing the Japanese side of the events, the person is at liberty to do so. Thanks for raising the point. it is a valid observation. Cheers! :tiphat:
I agree with you. The whole thing can be explained when we consider the 'point of view'. Yet, when it comes to real world personnel and countries, is it a good idea to vilify a whole nation or a country for what they did in the past. For an example, we tell that Hitler was a monster. But do we blame the entire German nation today for the crimes that Germans did years ago?
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Victoria Copsey wrote: 17 Jan 2021, 15:45 I don't think the author necessarily took the side of Korea but presented a story of struggle from the perspective of Korea. The author and reader will always find more empathy for the subject that expresses their perspective in a novel.
That is the exact point that I raise. Whether it was necessary or not, the author has told the story from the side of Korea, the victim in this political struggle, and indirectly and intentionally or unintentionally she has vilified the Japanese in the process. So when the Koreans receive empathy from the reader, the Japanese will receive the reader's hatred. And is that okay and is it justifiable?
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kdstrack wrote: 17 Jan 2021, 23:09 Being Korean, one understands that the author will emphasize her own country's perspective about the war. She has lovely memories of her country's traditions as can be seen by her detailed descriptions of the clothing, the food, and the family relationships. While the society tried to preserve their history, the younger generation was influenced by the conflict and the new ideas they were exposed to. All these circumstances influenced her writing. I did not feel like the author was driving readers against Japan.
The author has written what she knew and what she experienced. But the only thing that she wrote was not about the Korean traditions and culture, but about the villainous acts of the Japanese.

Just think of reading a book regarding a concentration camp in the world war era. Don't you feel angry towards the German? In my opinion, that feeling occurs similarly in the reader towards Japan due to the way that the author has vilified the Japanese. And I think that it is not a very good thing
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Ayindelaw wrote: 17 Jan 2021, 23:25 It's the author's story. They can side with whoever they want. I'm prone to siding with Korea too since they were the underdogs.
It is true that the author can side with any party in her own book, since she is the one who is writing it. I ma not raising that as an issue. I am pointing out about the Japanese being heavily vilified in her book. She could have taken any side that she wants without making the opposite party a demon entirely. But it is what has happened here and due to that, the readers also may take side with Korea and hate Japan.

You, yourself has admitted that you took the side of Korea as well. Didn't you feel angry towards the Japanese?
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Sithmi wrote: 17 Jan 2021, 23:50 This is a historical fiction. This story is written about the Korean struggle against Japan for independence. The author is biased to Korea, but has not made Japan a complete villain. It is the perspective of the story.
As far as I see, the author has not mentioned good aspects regarding Japan. There are things that the Koreans got because they were under the Japanese rule, but that doesn't mean that they requested for those things. So, if the author has not mentioned good things about the Japanese but the bad things that they did to the Koreans, what can that be called other than vilifying the Japanese?
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Teele wrote: 18 Jan 2021, 05:46
cd20 wrote: 02 Jan 2021, 19:18 The author is telling the side of Korea, we know this going in, and to expect the story to illuminate both sides is not necessary. You can expect that it will be the perspective of the one telling the story. I do not believe that the author is trying to be divisive, so much as to tell a story. This story did not make me see either side as a villain, it gave me a greater appreciation of the struggles that people during that time lived through. It seems to me that you couldn't win no matter which side you were on. It reminds me to what we are facing here, masks or no masks, you can't win no matter which side you are on. You just do the best that you can do and tell your perspective and your side of the story, hoping that it might make a difference to someone, someday.
So true. While reading, I did not forget the fact that the author is on the Korean side, and I'm seeing just one side of picture.
It is good that if you can have such an open mind and keep in mind that you only see one aspect of the story. But not all the readers do that and I, myself has found that me hating one side of a battle for hurting the other side unfairly, when I read war related books. So, can't that be happened to at least few other readers as well. And if that happens due to the way that the author has written this book, is it justifiable?
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Godspraise Precious wrote: 18 Jan 2021, 12:30 Since the author is Korean it is normal to take such side. I mean we all have our biases. It's a natural phenomenon to take a side of something we're familiar with. So by being Korean, I think it's justified to choose this even though that doesn't mean one should lie. But the question is on justification, so, yeah.
I don't think that the author has lied. She may have stated the truth, but only the dark truth regarding the acts of Japanese soldiers. She has the right to take whatever the side she want, but when it comes to a book which goes to a wide audience, I think that it is more ethical not only to state the truth but also to state the good things as well as bad things about both sides. Then only that can be justified
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Kansas City Teacher wrote: 18 Jan 2021, 22:41 Completely justified! For those of you who do not know Asian history, it is real and it is raw. The countries there, unlike here and in Europe, tend to be homogeneous. We can easily tell each other apart. My family escaped from Vietnam in the 70s and the tensions between Vietnam and its aggressors run deep for many generations. For many, perception is reality.
It is true. Vietnam has a bad history with USA and it might not have totally forgotten by the Vietnamese. My country too have a similar history with UK. It is true that even today we remind of that history, and there are many books written regarding that era. But even those as same as this book, I don't agree when you totally vilify an intruder, because if we actually look at the history, there are many good aspects of those intruders and the countries which got victimized in those invasions have gained many things that supported their future development. I think that is applicable to this story as well
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

Sithmi wrote: 19 Jan 2021, 07:12 I think the author is a bit baised to Korea but also sometimes point out some flaws of Korea too. but the author has not made Japan a complete villain. 
She has pointed out the flaws that were found in Korean culture those days. But that does not minimize the emphasis that she gives to the demonic actions that she claims have been done by the Japanese. She may not have tried to completely vilify the Japanese, but I don't see any good things that she mentioned about them. So either intentionally or not, she have made Japan a demon
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Eva Stoyanova wrote: 19 Jan 2021, 10:50
Bertha Jackson wrote: 07 Jan 2021, 18:45 I think this is just the author's point of view. I am sure there are books out there that are from Japan's point of view. Everyone is entitled to their own point of view.
Exactly! We can't blame the author for having an opinion or preferring one country to another. Some books defend things we don't and the other way round, but that's just normal.
I am not blaming the author for taking a side. What I am trying to say is she could have been more subtle when trying to portray the villainous acts of the Japanese. She wanted to tell the story of Korean struggle. So, it is inevitable that she have to mention about the opposing party. But she don't have to justify the Korean struggle by vilifying the Japanese, as she has done here, since Koreans already had the reason of being invaded by the Japanese to rise against them
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zulfiyya wrote: 20 Jan 2021, 14:35 It could possibly be deemed inappropriate or even considered propaganda if it was labelled as non-fiction, but given that it is fiction, it's not spreading false information because the readers are made known that the story is not real.
You have a valid point. But this is not just fiction, but historical fiction. So the content of this book has more weight than a just fiction. Historical fiction are based on historical facts, so the reader can think of any part as absolute truth. In that context, it is not a good thing to totally vilify a country for their actions in the past
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jamespotter wrote: 23 Jan 2021, 02:56 I'm definitely biased as a Korean person myself, but Bradley's description is absolutely justified. Imagine if someone writing a novel that takes place in Nazi Germany wrote the Nazis as mild-mannered and gentle; it'd be ridiculous. This doesn't mean that we still hate Germany for what happened, or that all Germans are Nazis. It's simply doing justice to the horrifying history that must be told. Most people don't know about Japan's occupation of other countries, or the depth of how awful their occupations were. Books like these give insight into these moments so that it cannot be repeated, and so that the victims of history are acknowledged.
I agree with your point. If we write about Nazis, we cannot describe them as mild mannered. Yet we can just mention that they were purely evil instead of describing the villainous acts that they performed. Through that way we can mention the truth but not driving the reader to develop any hatred towards the Germans. When the descriptions goes on and on, an average reader will definitely forget the discrepancy between Nazis and normal Germans.

I am thinking of this book in the similar manner. What do you think?
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Jennifer Aldo wrote: 23 Jan 2021, 19:51 I believe it is justifiable. Even if the Japanese were all nice and didn't exploit the Koreans, they still deprived them of a very important factor, independence. The independence of Korea was something they wanted, as opposed to colonialism, But instead the Japanese government continued to oppress the movement, even killing innocent young protesters in a march. Not to mention the police brutality. I believe villainizing Japan was well deserved.
Maybe those Japanese soldiers deserved to be seen as villains for the acts that they performed. But those were either merely obeying orders of few corrupted army superiors or some bad eggs among the Japanese soldiers and Police. Is it justifiable to vilify an entire army or an entire nation for the acts of a few?
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Post by JB3 »

I think that it is normal for the story to show one side over the other, everyone has their own perspectives on events and I think that the author is simply displaying their own perspective on the events.
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