Analysis Of The Book ' Escape From Camp 14 '

In the book Northing to Envy, Barbara Demick describes North Korea as an undeveloped country. “You can see the evidence of what once was and has been lost…” (4,Demick) The North Koreas aren’t up to the modern world and still haven’t learned that all humans need rights to be happy. Many aspects of human rights are broken in North Korean society that affect the people negatively, making them feel violated.

The problem with prison camps in North Korea back in the past were totally inhumane. “Prison tended to be a place where people were held before their trail or while awaiting punishment. It was very rarely used as a punishment in its own right. Men and women, boys and girls, debtors and murderers were all held together in local prisons” (History of Prison System). Basically, prisoners were punished equally, they all suffer with the same system of conditions, which was not fair for other prisoners in the sense of the judgment toward them. Prisons were dreadful dangerous for children in the fact that they were put into local jails with dangerous prisoners. Conditions in prisons were mostly one of many punishment toward prisoners, among other things.

The country of North Korea compares rather closely to the world in Ayn Rand’s Anthem. Both nations of people are very closed off from the community and the outside world. The citizens only know about what the government officials want them to know about. In North Korea everyone depends upon and worships their leader, Kim Jong Il, almost as though he is their god. They all only depend on what they classify as “we” and they rely only on that because they do not have access to anyone else or even know what it means to be an individual. In both the book and North Korea, the citizens are locked down and watched with a careful eye. Breaking the rules in Anthem would send you to the Uncharted Forest, which is very similar to what happens to those

In this particular section of the book, the main power in North Korea is controlled by blood line rather that by the most qualified to rule the country. The perspective of the North Korean people is corrupted by the powers in the government. Their perspective is altered by the constant government sponsored propaganda being thrown at them twenty-four hours a day. “Portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il- the centerpieces of every classroom in North Korea- were nowhere to be found. Instead, the school taught rudimentary literacy and numeracy, drilled the children in camp rules, and constantly reminded them of their iniquitous blood.” (27). But this same hypnotizing governmental tactic isn't used in the camp because they want to send a clear

Through this book Demick establishes her deep knowledge of North Korea all the while following the lives of six defectors as they fought to survive. Demick shows us the struggle that these North Koreans face as their country is consumed by an economic crisis and a famine that killed one fifth of their population, while it also gave us a glimpse at what we never think of when we hear about this country. The collapse of North Korea’s economy caused factories to close and other jobs to be terminated. This led the citizens of North Korea to lose their only source of income and forced to find other means to support their families. It caused them to make sacrifices in order support their families and essentially learn to become selfish, to turn a blind eye to the ones around who were also suffering in order for themselves to survive.

The book Escape from Camp 14, by Blaine Harden, follows the early life of Shin Dong-hyuk, the main character, as he grows up in a North Korean labor camp, Camp 14. The Kim dynasty was in control of North Korea during Shin’s time in the labor camp, and remains in control today. The Kim family runs a communist government and kept control by creating labor camps for those who attempted to fight the government system. The novel goes into detail about Shin’s childhood, his young adulthood, his escape and how he had to adapt after escaping. Blaine Harden convincingly argues that North Korean government is extremely hazardous to its inhabitants. The book highlights the dangers that people face, having to live in the labor camps and the perils of

In North Korea, compulsory conscription of men women, and sometimes young children, along with public executions of military leaders, instills fear in the citizens. The government also continues to subject its power over citizens through threats and using the punishments of those who do not follow their laws to embody fear and control over the citizens. This ultimately leads to more control and manipulation of the individuals by the government through the fears of the public and lack of rights individuals can

The memoir Escape from Camp by Blaine Harden is a riveting life story about a young man named Shin who was born inside Camp 14. Camp 14 was one of five sprawling political prisons in the mountains of North Korea. In some camps there could be as many as 200,000 people who were either captured or born and raised in the camps. Shin knew nothing of civilized existence. He saw his mother and brother as a competitor for food, guards raised him to be a snitch, and he witnessed the execution of his own family. They were entitled to beatings daily for having to “pay for the sins” that their parents committed. All thoughts of escaping were diminished by the constant fear of starvation. North Korea was taking in billions of dollars worth of food to

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, also known as North Korea, has always had a history of imprisoning people that disagree with the governments policies, or for “disrespecting” the countries leaders, but these prisons are not just any prisons, they are prison camps, which function similarly to Nazi Concentration Camps.

The country of North Korea has long been under the watchful eye of not only the United States but also the United Nations for many years over concerns of it nuclear weapons program but now, they are being looked at for an entirely different reason. Recent reports about the inhuman treatment of an estimated 200,000 North Korean citizens in the countries six political prison camps are been closely looked at. These reports show the mistreatment, starvation, and even unlawful killing of North Korean citizens from everything from owning a Bible to watching soap operas.

I liked the book because it taught me about a new country and its situation. An aspect that I loved about the book was that it followed the lives of people with different backgrounds. Hence, I could see how the issues of North Korea have affected people of different classes. The book also explained how the six North Koreans defected and adjusted to life in South Korea. The way each North Korean adjusted to the new society reflected their values. And their adjustments highlighted the core differences in each culture, even though North and South Koreans are the same ethnic group and speak the same language. For example Mi-ran stated “The instant gratification of modern communication killed some of the magic between [Jung-sang and I]. [Our] relationship was one that thrived in the adverse conditions of North Korea. Emotions somehow meant more when they were handwritten on precious scraps of paper and conveyed on slow trains running out of fuel.”(283) This example shows how the privilege of the internet changed Ju-sang and Mi-ran’s relationship. Hence, it highlights how North Koreans are accustomed to traditional methods of communications due to North Korea refusing to enter the twenty first century and the surprise defectors face when they gain access to modern communication. One thing that was missing from the book was that it did not go into detail about the lifestyle and outlook on the life of the ruling class during the 1990 famine. If it had,

In 1958, just after World War II, these camps and conditions began, when Kim II-Sung got rid of those who opposed his regime. There are currently twenty - five concentration camps in North Korea, in which camp twenty- two is the largest among all. These camps are used to oppress, violate and degrade North Korean prisoners for as long as they live. Anyone who disagreed with Kim Jong Un or committed any crime would be imprisoned. In reference to free korea.com the North Korean government has also imprisoned family memebers of those who refuged to South Korea durning the war. Prisoners are made to work long hours by logging or mining where some prisoners die. Anyone who tries to escape are publicly shot or hanged. Women are often

In the United States people are able to view politics however they please, and some other countries are the same way. One country that keeps a tight hold on its people and their beliefs is North Korea. North Korea is a communist country and some would say that they do things very different then other countries. North Korea believes very strongly in their ways of government and are very strict about their followers. Very few people try to rise against North Korea 's ways of government, but for the few who do their world 's get turned upside down. People who speak up and rise against the government usually get shipped out to brutal labor camps, also known as Gwalliso. In these camps a person can experience hard labor such as mining, logging,

North Korea is still living in the past still having concentration camps with around 120,000 people secluded in horrid conditions. Most of these individuals are in prison camps for merely watching soap operas, finding food to sustain their families, crossing the border to escape to China, or simply having family members that were suspectful to the regime. Not only convicts but families are sent to prisons without a trial on the basis of supposedly committing anti-revolutionary activities. North Korean concentration camps have survived for twice as long as the Nazi concentration camps. Political prison camps are not a solution for crimes committed against the government whose expectations are unrealistic in the 21st century. A country exhibiting such unnatural treatment in the 21st century should be stopped after learning from the catasphrope outcomes from similar treatments during Hitler's reign in concentration camps in Germany. The inmate population in North Korea's concentration camps has depleted due to mass starvation, forced labour, executions, rape and torture. Several United Nations investors believe that Kim Jung Un should face international justice after subjecting its citizens for allowing such systematic torture. Prisoners in the camps

North Korea is a dictatorship country that has limited resources but the people live below poverty and are constantly restricted from the outside world. The Kim Dynasty has established a government without the help of the United States and the United Nations. Through their government, they have learned to be self-sufficient. North Korea is a country with many problems, but it is also a country with unique history and a serious enemy of the United States. This analysis will briefly review North Korea’s economy, government, and history.