Nothing And Envy By Barbara Demick

To the point of unhealthy obsession, not unlike a cult. If Kim Il-sung had asked for her life, she would have given it gladly. At the other end of the spectrum, Jun-sang “lived with a fear that was so internalized that he wasn’t able to articulate it, but it was ever-present” (35). His parents has insured that he knew to keep his mouth shut about personal beliefs. When Kim Il-sung died-“he had been contemplating his own reaction, or lack thereof, with an intellectual detachment, but suddenly he was gripped with fear. He was alone, completely alone in his indifference- The revelation was followed quickly by another, equally momentous: his entire future depended on his ability to cry. Not just his career and his membership in the Workers’ Party, his very survival was at stake” (pg. 98). Junsang like many North Koreans had to accept his position in life without question lest he risk massive consequences for himself and his family. Jun-sang could not have been the only North Korean to have been indifferent to the death of Kim Il-sung, but any likeminded individuals would never be able to publically show anything but desperate

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea is a novel by Barbara Demick, the Beijing bureau chief of the Los Angeles Times. It is published by Spiegel & Grau in the United States. It was originally published in 2009, however this version that I had read was published in 2015, with a chapter put on the end of the tome to update it to more recent events. Demick starts out the piece in North-eastern North Korea, specifically the city of Chongjin, the third largest city in North Korea, a major part of the North Korean steel industry. The subject that the author pursues is how an average North Korean lived in the transition of regimes and the struggles that it came with.

In the novel, “Nothing to Envy,” by Barbara Demick, many citizens of North Korea, like Jun-Sang, abandoned their country and relocated to another district because the stopped believing in North Korea’s government. By reading illegal books about capitalism and communism, Jun-Sang started to question the politics of North Korea, as shown in this quote, “How could a product of the American capitalist system write something like this?…Weren’t all capitalist enemies who lived by the law of the jungle—kill or be killed?” (Demick 190). He eventually discovered that his country’s government was using propaganda to hide the fact that other countries in the world were thriving, with enough nourishment and fortune for all the citizens; while, North Korea

Universal healthcare is known to be a luxury in most counties. However, in North Korea where the economy is continually struggling, universal healthcare is a disaster. The communist country has major commitments to education and healthcare which both failed once the economy crumbled. The health of North Koreans suffered dramatically with a declining economy because it created famine, malnutrition, absence of medication, and ultimately extremely limited healthcare. A recent documentary, called Inside North Korea, allowed a foreign physician to come in the country and perform cataract surgery to countless individuals. This physician was needed to not only to bring modern surgery equipment, but also education North Korean medical professionals

The dystopian novel, Anthem, and North Korea have similarities and differences that links them together as well as distinguish them from one another. North Korea is a country that is ¨protected¨ by their leader, Kim Jong-un, the North Koreans worship Kim Jong-un as a god. In the novel, Anthem, their government is solely based upon everyone living and working for the benefit of others, never themselves. Everyone in the society is equal, one is never better than the other. Both North Korea and Anthem are similar in ways in which they are to never question their leaders, they are all told what to do and believe. The country and the novel are alike and conflict each other, in this essay we will go in depth.

To first start off both the society of Anthem and North Korea have a lot common rules. The society of Anthem is restricted to to leave their position and disobey the society's rules. Meanwhile North korean citizens are restricted to leave and disobey the “Great Leader”. Both instances there is that one person the does goes behind the leaders back and disobeys. In Anthem it was Equality, he sneaks off and finds a cave to stay in against the society's back. The same inteins applies in North Korea, it is a huge crime to go behind the leaders back but, I'll goes behind the back of the “Great Leader” and sneaks to South Korea. For Equality's mistake of disobeying he is beaten till he release the truth but, for Il his parents, friends, and other

The family was considered to be part of the lower class system because Tae-woo is of South Korean origin. After he fought in the war he was taken as a POW in what was now part of North Korea and had to assimilate in the communist country. This meant he was sent to work in the mines and would never be able to achieve any higher ranking. This unfortunately was also the case for anyone related to Tae-woo, especially his children. No matter how hard they would study and work, they were to meet the same disappointment their father had faced. “Your song-bun, as the rating was called, took into account the backgrounds of your parents, grandparents, and even second cousins “(26). Even ordinary citizens were subjected to invasive screening in order to rank their political trustworthiness.

Despite North Korea being so close to two modern superpowers of the trading world, the country is far behind both of them architecturally and far behind in human rights. Nothing To Envy, written by Barbara Demick, illustrates the shortcomings of living inside North Korea without bias. Inside Canada and North Korea, they both have shortcomings that affect the lives of the people who live there, for instance, the North Korean government is very controlling of its people, whereas Canada is so large and free to the point where the government is not able to watch everything at the same time. The main shortcomings of North Korea are demonstrated in the propaganda, and the lack of individuality, On the other hand, the failures of Canada are that people

Stephanie Coontz is a teacher, historian, author and a scholar activist. She has also very indulged in the world of public debate on families, this mostly due possible because of her extensive skills to study modern families as well as historical patterns. In her book The Way We Never Were, Coontz presents a historical look at the family and how it has changed over time. Her interest in the subject comes for her need to understand how families functioned in the past and present, and what lead to notion and definition of family nowadays.

The novel I read was titled Nothing To Envy by Barbara Demick. Throughout this book Demick outlines the struggle these subjects by the names of Mrs.Song, Oak-Hee, Mi-Ran, Jun-Sang, Kim Hyuck, and Dr.Kim had to go through. Not to mention all the characters listed all suffered from the Arduous March, which involved massive starvation and economic failure caused by the North Korean government's currency. From this novel, I learned that I have it easy and I have never truly had to go through any of these things these poor people have had to go though. Throughout this report I will expose you to some of the things this society had to go though.

This quote is saying that in the past North Korea had a social class system similar to the Indian Caste System. People at the very bottom were treated very harshly. Some lived in Labor camps where all day you would do tasks such as construction, tilling the fields, and moving packages. In the camps you were served very little food mostly consisting of soybeans, and if you're lucky cornmeal. Many of these people in the camps were people who had been caught doing things, such as trying to escape the country and other crimes. Not only did “criminals” stay in labor camps, but also prisoners of the Korean War. Inside the camp people would be killed for stealing food and trying to escape. After, a long day of work the prisoners went back

Nothing to Envy - Correspondent for the Los Angeles Times in Seoul, the capital of South Korea, between 2001 and 2006, American journalist Barbara Demick researched documents, photos, and videos and interviewed North Korean dissidents and refugees who had fled to a South Korea or to China. Punctuated by general information about a country's economy and culture, such as 'Nothing to be Jealous' stories intertwine to form a rather vivid panel on Kim Il-sung's (1912-94) and Kim Jong-il (1942) -2011), father and son who reigned absolute for more than six decades and still perpetuate their authoritative legacy in the figure of heir Kim Jong-un. One of the book's virtues is to show how the cult of the personality of tyrants was forged in the peculiar

1984 demonstrates a dystopian society in Oceania by presenting a relentless dictator, Big Brother, who uses his power to control the minds of his people and to ensure that his power never exhausts. Aspects of 1984 are evidently established in components of society in North Korea. With both of these society’s under a dictator’s rule, there are many similarities that are distinguished between the two. Orwell’s 1984 becomes parallel to the world of dystopia in North Korea by illustrating a nation that remains isolated under an almighty ruler.

The Secret State of North Korea offered a great look into what basic things North Koreans are lacking. Even within the realm of Communism. Lack of freedoms, lack of food, lack of community, lack of trust, lack of a social society, lack of programs for children, lack of equality, and a lack of information. When Kim Il-Sung created North Korea, the government was based on Marxism and Leninism, called “Juche.” Just as the Soviets, the North Koreans followed suite with massive inequality between the government officials and the common people. The documentary showed its viewers what the government is omnipresent in the everyday lives of its people, so much so that recordings of daily life are illegal, and “random” searches take place commonly.

North Korean defectors who entered South Korea live in ‘Hanawon’ at first, a government-organized educational facility for helping North Korean defectors settle in South Korea (Jeon et al., 2009). They are provided education for social adaptation for