The Guest by HwangSukYong, the significance historically, politically Essay

The Guest by HwangSukYong, the significance historically, politically and cutullay - Essay Example Notably, the same time saw the arrival of the American military that expressed its resilient support for the staged anti-communist efforts. Sin-chon was the center of all the horror that transpired, and is a historically significant place as signified by the museum erected in the same place as a memory of the past. The book ‘The Guest’ offers vivid descriptions of the 1950 events, presented through dreams of some characters who witnessed the atrocities. The context of the book thus exhibits a cultural, historical, and political relevance. This paper will highlight the relevance of its context in the three aspects. The author of the book ‘The Guest’ focused on one of the most sensitive subjects to both the south and northern Korea. In his introductory note, the author presents the contextual justification of the title selected for his work. A weighty analogy appears between the issues discussed in the book and small pox. Evidently, when the smallpox pandemic was of critical concern in Korea, the people regarded it as a ‘foreign disease’ and coined the term ‘sonnim’ that translates to guest in its reference. With the novel focusing on the adverse effects of Christianity and communism, the analogy to small pox becomes relevant. The fact that both of these ideologies were not concepts that had not emanated from the Korean people, but rather from foreigners justified them to bear the reference as guests. Moreover, the American army that has received immense criticism as the principal cause of the massacre, was a guest among the Korean (Lee 195). The book offers a salient criticism of the issues that transpired. Contrary to the common belief that the American army bears the ultimate blame for the atrocities that happened, the book offers an expose of the real perpetrators of the extreme violence that was carried out against the people in 50 days that those who witnessed the events would