For Tuesday: Harden, Escape
from Camp 14, Chapters 3-9
Answer TWO of the
following:
Q1: Why was Shin punished
repeatedly for 6 months for informing on his mother and brother? Related to
this, why didn’t he speak up for himself until the bitter end? How do the
answers to both questions say something important about the psychology of the
camps?
Q2: How did you react to
the information that Chapter 4 is mostly a lie? Why did Shen tell this lie over
and over again in South Korea US
Q3: Early in the book,
Shin argues that words like mother, father, brother, son, daughter, etc., mean
nothing in the camps. However, as these chapters point out, that isn’t exactly
true. Where do we see true feeling and compassion emerging between family
members—and even strangers? Why might some people still be capable of this
while others, such as Shin, were left emotionless?
Q4:
Q1. Shin snitches on his mother and brother when he overheard them talking about escaping. Shin trusted a night guard saying that in return for his "good" behavior of snitching he wanted food and less work. That guard said okay to get the information and resulting Shin is thrown in prison and tormented. The guards in prison nearly kill him trying to pry information from him. He doesn't understand why they won't believe he doesn't know much, and finally says I ratted them out, and stands up for himself. The whole psychology of this camp is twisted. The prisoners are trained to turn against one another, in that camp you can't trust anyone. With all the rules and torments it's hard to be human.
ReplyDeleteQ3. Some people in the camp have compassion. Like Uncle from the cells. He was really the only person Shin trusted. He was more of a father or mother than Shin's actual parents. He took care of Shin and his wounds. It was easier for Uncle to be that way because he knew what life was like before the camp whereas Shin didn't. Shin was born in the camp and that's all he has ever known, true feeling and compassion never really took place in his life. He grew up learning how to survive in the camp and what rules not to break. He doesn't know anything outside Camp 14.
Q1. Shin was punished for six months because of a misunderstanding. The man Shin told that his mother and brother were leaving lied and told officials that he discovered the information. Shin did not understand this at first. Once he realized he was not receiving the credit for his snitching, I think a part of him was scared to go against the name of another official. He could receive harsher punishments for arguing against them. The psychology in these camps is extremely twisted. The thought process is distorted into a mentality of "everything is always my fault."
ReplyDeleteQ2. I was shocked to discover that the information Shin had been telling was a lie. Shin's mentality was not right after being in the camp for his entire life. For a long time he thought it was his mother's and brother's fault for everything. Shin finally decided to tell this information because of people he had met recently. These people have shown him love, caring, and compassion. Thus allowing him to see a new way of life.
1.Along with the people in the camp being corrupt, the guards are also very corrupt. The night guard that shin told his mother and brothers escape plan to promised him rewards for his behavior of snitching and then completely left out the fact that he himself had been informed. The torturers and investigators did not know that shin was the informer. He never told of his involvement because he thought they already knew. Even if he didn’t think they knew he would never inform on himself, only others. This just kind of shows that these prisoners have nowhere to go. There’s nothing they can do to make their lives better. No matter what they do or inform the authority of, there are always corrupt people inside the camp willing to take advantage of the obedience of the prisoners.
ReplyDelete3.The only sign of feeling and compassion I’ve noticed in shins mother is when talking about her sons escape plan. She did not immediately go inform on shins’ brother which would have had major consequences, but she joined in the escape and ended in the same way she would have if she had not tried to escape because she had information on the escape but did not tell. The biggest sign of compassion though is not between family members. It came from an unexpected source, and I believe it’s the only reason shin noticed that deep down there was something wrong with the camp born prisoners. The old man who came from outside of the camp showed shin that not everyone was there to betray him. He found that he instinctively trusted the man. The man in a way broke through shins brainwashing just a little bit and opened up thoughts about those emotions he never knew he had.
Q1: Why was Shin punished repeatedly for 6 months for informing on his mother and brother? Related to this, why didn’t he speak up for himself until the bitter end? How do the answers to both questions say something important about the psychology of the camps? Shin told a guard who proceeded to take credit for the discovery of Shins mothers plot. Shin was then captured and tortured to gather more information.
ReplyDeleteQ2: How did you react to the information that Chapter 4 is mostly a lie? Why did Shen tell this lie over and over again in South Korea and the US? What do you think made him finally confide the truth—which is introduced in Chapter 5—to the author? I found it shocking. It seemed like it was a normal thing for this camp. It was a shock to find out he did have some joy in seeing his brother. I think he realized the truth was actually praised in today’s world. He realized that they were here for him.
Ethan Hays
ReplyDeleteQ1: Shin was punished for 6 months because the night guard that he snitched to had lied to officials and took credit for finding out about the attempted escape. Shin didn't speak up until the bitter end because he had no idea that the night guard had lied. This shows that almost everyone in the camps are willing to do anything to get ahead.
Q2: I was a little surprised that he had lied for such a long time. I think he was scared of what people would think about him if they found out that he had ratted on his mother and brother and caused them to eventually be executed. I think he finally decided to tell the truth because he realized that out in the real world, people value honesty and he feels guilty for lying.
Cameron Corbin
ReplyDeleteQ2: I was very surprised initially when I found out the information in Chapter 4 was a lie. With as horrifying as the rest of the information is in the chapter, it seems odd that Shin would lie about that small piece. This lie makes you question the rest of Shin's story, as it is hard to tell know how accurate the full degree of it is. This is odd considering Shin is possibly using the lie to show remorse at the fact that he snitched on his mother and brother, even though he was raised in a society that did not promote traditional values such as familial loyality. This is possibly a product of evolutionary means.
Q4: Even though North Korea is a "communist" country, this is really only in name only. In a way, North Korea is the inverse opposite of a communist country where the leaders grow wealthy off the bottom classes. North Korea amasses great wealth for its upper class through insurance fraud. North Korea has smooched money out of countries such as the United States, France, and Switzerland simply by the fact that they have outsmarted and conned us into making a large fortune off insurance miscues. This is a very sticky situation as on the outside North Korea and the west are sworn enemies; in reality though, North Korea could not be what it is today without the money the west provides.
Rachel Griffis
ReplyDeleteQ1. When Shin heard about what his brother and mother were planning on doing, he immediatley went to a guard and told him what he had heard, but he also wanted stuff in return for doing what he was supposed to do. Instead, the guard took credit for catching them when they tried to escape leaving Shin as a "witness" because they were his family and the other guards thought he knew about the escape. Shin didn't speak up until he was almost dead because he didn't know the guard hadn't told them about the information he gave them the night before they tried to escape. He couldn't really call the guard a liar or accuse him or something because he could have gotten beat more for talking bad about on of the guards. The camps teach you to fear the guards and any other people that are above you, so I think Shin was scared to speak up about telling the guard because it could have been his word against the guard's if he hadn't went to his "friend" first.
Q2. I was kind of thrown for loop when I found out that he had been lying about his mother and brother's escape. But I really think he had a good excuse for doing what he did. He lied to so many people because he was scared. We do so many things in life because we are scared. But Shin actually felt bad for what he did, because not being in Camp 14 helped him realize what it was actually like to be human. Which he started learning what it was like to feel bad or guilty about his actions. I'm not sure if he decided to come clean about lying because he felt bad or because he wanted the truth to be out there about what being in that camp does to people, but we found out that people can change after being in one of those camps for most of their lives, because Shin did it.