(page 71, second paragraph, lines 4~6)
2. My second connection is when they handed out food to the prisoners. I thought of North Korea when I saw this. I didn't care about North Korea before, but South Korea and North Korea had to unite, so I thought of them first. Many poor people in North Korea wait for the food truck to come by and toss them some good food. Which is not a lot of food for everyone to eat. The people who get those are called "Kkotjebi." I wonder what they call these people in Russia. Any ways "Kkotjebi" means flower swallow who just eat once two days. But not a lot, its as if they have been in hunger for weeks but they get 2 bananas sometimes. So I thought of them first. In our lives we get almost all the food we want, but they couldn't in both. The providing food for poor people was mainly for people that could not provide enough food for themselves, and other people helped them or not. In the book it is one section going one by one to get food. Some of the others could barely get two dishes. This also happens in North Korea too. Some people get none and some get more. It's a race to get the most food or to starve and wait more. This is a tragedy in North Korea and no one can help them. In Africa people go there to help, but North Korea is full of communists. There is no one there to help except the government who don't help. They are left to die. In these camps some could die, but not all. Some could just die from the conditions but not from starvation. At least, they should be thankful for Stalin, he gives food even if they are poor.
Hey Juho, I do not agree with your first connection. In fact, I think you could connect much more. First of all, both camps required a ton of work. They had tough conditions and horrible amounts of suffering. Why do you think that Ivan suffered more? I think they both suffered the same amount. Finally, I wanted to ask you. Why would the people be happy with Stalin if he is the reason they are in there. Remember that many people there were not poor in the Gulag camp. There were some that had a good life, but were taken into the camps because they were simply late for work.
ReplyDeleteWell Russia is a freezing cold land, where even animals like dogs could die due to the freezing cold weather. If you are hot, many people can actually live through because it can't go up to a temperature where humans die out. I have also been in a sports club near the equator and had to play for 4 hours straight. I could bare a lot with that. But in the freezing cold weather, your body slows down som much it coud kill you faster.
DeleteThey had a good life and are in jail doing hard work. In North Korea many "Kkotjebi" were actually really rich until their parents did a big accident. So they were sent to jail for 5 years and had to live poor the whole time. These people starve for days without a single pea. At least Stalin gave food to these prisoners at least. It would have been harder for them to even survive through hunger. When you work at least your body can get a better shape. But when you starve it becomes worse. Many dictators at least gave a little bit to the prisoners. Even Hitler, but the "Three North Korean Dictators" didn't. The kkotjebi were happy families and soon they died out quickly. Getting food made people survive longer, but the "Kkotjebis" died out very quick. Even though they were all rich men at once, it wasn't their fault, it was their parents or families.
Hi Juho, I like your second connection because it seems that North Korea has a lot in common with the camp Ivan Denisovich was in but I guess they are pretty different in some aspects because in the camp not all the prisoners were poor, they were repressed people and they wasn´t out of food because they didn´t work they were out of food because they were in prison! and they were forced to work totally opposite to Korea, The prisoners were very responsible in general and they decided to be hopeful for when they will be released and maybe they seemed hopeless but Ivan Denisovich for sure had hope in his heart. Anyway the connection was good just think about this point.
ReplyDeleteWell in North Korea there are people who are supposed to be rich but were prisoners twice. So their family and the prisoner would go to jail for 10 years or become a "Kkotjebi."
DeleteThe prisons in North Korea are very harsh. Some had to go to nuclear power plants without knowing what to do. They were taught 30 minutes and had to go into these power plants and just die or make an explosion which never happened. Digging holes are probably easier than going into mines and power plants with more risk of dying.
Juho,
ReplyDeleteSurprisingly, we both had the same connection as you. I also thought that the book was very similar to the book holes in many ways. Both characters are there for something they didn't do. They also get a lack of food and water daily. On one specific day, people at Ivan's camp, were digging holes for half a day, which for me would be very hard. In the book "Holes," they dig holes for the whole day in the hot sun hitting against them. I could never imagine the pain they are in because for me, that is impossible.
Reading your third connection, I also thought of Africa. I thought about how many people beg for food and how many people work so hard for something they want and should have a daily supply of. In Africa, there is many volunteer houses that provide food just like in North Korea and South Korea, which give food to those who can't give themselves. Even though there is volunteer houses that do give food, there is still many people dying because of the lack of food, because they don't get as much as they need to.
Well actually in North Korea, the government are given food from South Korea, and the government takes all of them. The foods were meant for the really poor people. South Korea is not that poor so almost everyone can live with their own food. I am suprised we have almost the same connection, but there are also many things related to the book "Holes."
DeleteJuho, I really liked the connections you made with the book. I think I can also connect with the second one. In mexico long time ago, my family and I, went to the really poor side of mexico, and we started to hand out food. There were various other people doing this, and I think that this is a really similar thing to the book. I like how many people in the world have done this, including people whom we watch alot, and admire. Here is a video of my fellow friend Vitaly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2Nx13eWyVQ
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