The Orphan Master's Son

“That’s how he’d thought of most people—appearing in your life like foundlings on the doorstep, only to be swept away later as if by flood” 

Jun Do has this thought after his first kidnapping mission with Officer So. Jun Do’s life has been one of people coming and going, ultimately leaving him alone. The flood reference relates to his friend Bo Song, an orphan who was swept away in a river, and for whose fate Jun Do feels responsible. In the same way that others have disappeared from his own life, he is now the cause of disappearances. 

“Jun Do had dealt with this his whole life, the ways it was impossible for people

from normal families to conceive of a man in so much hurt that he couldn’t acknowledge his own son, that there was nothing worse than a mother leaving her children, though it happened all the time, that ‘take’ was a word people used for those who had so little give as to be immeasurable” 

This line, in Jun Do’s narration, follows the observation by Gil, his fellow colleague on the kidnapping mission, that Jun Do should forget his martyr’s name and reinvent himself to be whatever he wants. He is reflecting on his own family situation, where his father treated Jun Do like one of the orphans and his mother, a singer, was never involved in his life. Jun Do has so little that what he does have is “immeasurable” in its significance. 

“‘To row around the world,’’ the Second Mate said. ’Only a sexy woman would do that. It’s so pointless and arrogant. Only sexy Americans would think the world was something to defeat’” 

The Second Mate makes this observation to Jun Do, who has told him about the broadcast from the American girls rowing around the world. His observation underscores the difference between life in a democracy, where individuals have the freedom to pursue their passions (no matter how reckless or idealistic), compared to life under an oppressive regime, where every movement is controlled by the government and the people are afforded no individual passions or interests.

“Real stories like this, human ones, could get you sent to prison, and it didn’t matter what they were about. It didn’t matter if the story was about an old woman or a squid attack—if it diverted emotion from the Dear Leader, it was dangerous”

Jun Do has this thought when the Captain is telling a story of the time he was captured by Russians and was imprisoned for four years, although he was able to convince his captors to let the crew go while he stayed in their place. Jun Do recognizes the story as dangerous—stories amongst the common men were too “human” and were therefore forbidden by the government, although they are exactly the sort of story Jun Do collects when he is picking up radio frequencies in the dark. 

“Jun Do told his story, and when the reporter asked his name, Jun Do said it didn’t matter, as he was only a humble citizen of the greatest nation in the world” 

Jun Do tells his story after the first incident aboard the Junma, where the Americans boarded the ship, delivered nonsensical messages over the radio and destroyed pictures of the Dear Leader. Jun Do’s story establishes the Second Mate as a hero. Yet he is careful not to take any of the credit for himself, which would distinguish him from the others and draw attention to him. This line establishes a theme for the book.

“‘Where we are from,’ he said, ‘stories are factual. If a farmer is declared a music virtuoso by the state, everyone had better start calling him maestro. And secretly, he’d be wise to start practicing the piano’” 

This comment is made by Dr. Song to Jun Do while they travel to Texas from North Korea in response to Jun Do’s protest that he does not want to tell the story of the shark attack to the Americans because it is so improbable. Dr. Song is expressing the idea espoused by the national radio broadcast, that an official version of every story must exist, and it is the job of the citizens to live up to their stories. 

“But, as the Great Leader Kim Il Sung prescribes, Ask not what the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea can do for you; ask what you can do for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”

Doctor Song says this to the American Senator, who reacts by sucking air through his teeth. It’s obviously a misappropriation of President John F. Kennedy’s quote about America and Americans, but it takes on a more ominous tone when applied to North Korea. In this case, quite a lot is expected of North Koreans—even their lives.

“When the dogs returned, the Senator gave them treats from his pocket, and

Jun Do understood that in communism, you’d threaten a dog into compliance, while in capitalism, obedience is obtained through bribes” 

Jun Do makes this observation on his trip to Texas. The presence of the dog is unsettling, as dogs are considered to be unclean and are illegal in North Korea. Here, the Senator is openly pampering a dog. The comparison between the two countries is clear once again. The Senator bribes the dog into obedience; the Dear Leader wouldn’t dream of offering a bribe. Instead, North Korean citizens are threatened into compliance. 

“…. Even though there were guards everywhere, because there were guards everywhere—that was the purest freedom”

Jun Do explains this to Wanda, the US Senator’s assistant. Wanda has told him it would be difficult for him to defect, but not impossible. She asks Jun Do if he understands what freedom feels like, and this is his reply. Jun Do’s belief is that with freedom all around you, freedom loses its value. In North Korea, when the opportunities for freedom are so rare, they are all the more precious.

“If children had sat where he sat, if old people had occupied this bench, then absolutely no one was safe—one day a truck like this might come for him, too” 

Jun Do makes this observation from the back of a Russian crow (transport vehicle), on which he has hitched a ride to his next mission. Accustomed to being shuttled around at the whim of the government, regardless of his own desires, Jun Do does not realize that the next stop for him is the mine where he will a be a prisoner. 

“Never in his life had he been in a room without portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim

Jong Il above the door...Never had he been in a place that did not merit the gaze of the Dear and Great Leaders’ constant concern” 

Jun Do makes this observation when he arrives at the prison mine. The cult of personality in North Korea is so pervasive that Jun Do is constantly referring to portraits of the nation’s leaders; here in the mine’s infirmary, where there is no sign of the leaders’ presence, Jun Do understands that there is something godforsaken and ominous about the place. 

“When you have a subject’s biography, there is nothing between the citizen and the state” 

The nameless interrogator/biographer offers this reflection while questioning a professor. Unlike some of his more violent colleagues, the interrogator cares about the stories of the detainees—it is these stories or beliefs that make a person dangerous. Once the stories are removed from the person, the person can again be useful to the state. Although the professor has committed relatively minor infractions and for a while it looks as if he will simply be released, at the end, the interrogator hooks him up to an “autopilot,” which will dispense electricity to his brain.

“In pain school, they’d taught him to find his reserve, a private place he could go in unbearable moments…. Nobody could ever know what your pain reserve was, even if you’d chosen the most obvious, rudimentary element of your life, because if you lost your pain reserve, you’d lost everything” 

The imposter Commander Ga makes this observation after his first round of interrogation at the hands of the brutal Pubyok, who use force to extract confessions. The Pubyok are left frustrated and contemplative, however, since their torture techniques do not produce a confession. Ga’s “private place” consisted of his memories of Sun Moon.

“…she was wise to set aside her own feelings and trust the guidance of a government official, for he bore the rank of minister. When it doubt, always look to your leaders for proper behavior” 

The official state broadcast is responsible for this line, delivered during an installment of the Best North Korean Story. Sun Moon has just opened her door to a man who is clearly not her husband, and yet, according to the broadcast, she does not question him or his appearance, since the man in front of her is wearing military insignia.

“For eleven years, the prison doctors order no bandages and the cooks ask for no ingredients. We ship them only millet and salt, tons and tons of millet and salt. No prison has ever requested a pair of shoes or even a single bar of soap. But they must have transfusion bags right away. They must have bullets and barbed wire tomorrow! I prepared my family. They knew what to do” 

Comrade Buc makes this observation to his interrogators in Division 42. As someone who works in procurement, he understands how horrible the situation must be in the nation’s prison mines, and no matter what happens to him, he does not consider the mines an option for him or his family. He warns the interrogators that they should have a suicide plan as well, for no one is free from the whims of the Dear Leader. 

“Lazy and unmotivated, Americans stay up late, engaging in television, homosexuality, and even religion, anything to fill their selfish appetites” 

This line is said in the official state broadcast, comparing North Korea and America. In North Korea, the cities are plunged into darkness block by block each night as a result of electricity shortages. This is spun as a virtue, in contrast to Americans who have no national bedtime. 

“I knew he was still in there, that despite the distemper of his patriotism, my father was still my father, even if he felt the need to hide his true self from everyone, even me” 

The interrogator/biographer makes this observation about his father, who is now elderly and blind. His father, afraid of the narrator and his capacity for violence, has ceased to communicate with him except in terms of party doctrine and propaganda.  

“Orphans are the only ones who get to choose their fathers, and they love them twice as much” 

Commander Ga (formerly Jun Do) remembers Mongnan telling him this during his time the prison mine. Jun Do had just seen the Captain stoned to death, in fact, he threw the stone that may have killed him. Mongnan’s words cut through Jun Do’s loneliness and devastation and explain the depth of feeling he has for the Captain.

“You don’t know how I respect you. You’re the only one, in all this time, that’s really fought back, you’re the only one who knows me, who really understands me” 

The real Commander Ga says this to Jun Do. The two of them are deep within a prison mine—Jun Do as a prisoner, Commander Ga as the minister of mines. Ga has grabbed another prisoner and seems to be about to rape him—in order, he says, to make a point about the evils of homosexuality. Jun Do intervenes and Ga calls him a “real man.” Immediately afterwards, Ga delivers a blow that starts the fight between them. Ga will end up dead. 

“It must be stated that the world is a dangerous place, and the future is known only to high-ranking officials” 

The Dear Leader makes this comment to Sun Moon when she asks if something is going to happen to her husband, the new Commander Ga, on the eve of the Americans’ visit. His reply is hardly reassuring. 

“No, you had to keep the people you loved safer than that. They had to become as fixed to you as a tattoo, which no one could take away” 

The imposter Commander Ga thinks this as Sun Moon and her children are preparing to leave their house forever. It is not enough to merely wear a locket to remember a person; the memories should be ingrained on the heart. Although he does have a tattoo of Sun Moon on his chest, it is not true that a tattoo cannot be taken away. After his traitorous acts, the new Ga is imprisoned and tortured, and Commander Park arrives with a box cutter to remove Ga’s tattoo of Sun Moon.

“‘And what story would that be?’ she asked him. ‘The one about a man who comes to town to destroy everything you have? Where would I find the fabric to tell of how he kills your neighbor, takes his place, and gets your husband caught up in a game that will cost you everything?’” 

Comrade Buc’s wife says this to the imposter Commander Ga, who has entered her home at night to seek out Buc’s guidance. He finds Buc’s wife sewing a white dress which will later be worn by one of their daughters during the family’s mass suicide. He has told her about how Americans use quilts to tell stories. Her reply shows she has been preparing for the worst ever since the new commander Ga arrived next door.

“My story’s ended ten times already, and yet it never stops. The end keeps coming for me, and yet it takes everyone else. Orphans, friends, commanding officers, I outlast them all” 

The imposter Commander Ga (formerly Jun Do) says this to his nameless interrogator while he is being hooked up to the “autopilot,” the machine that will deliver electrical impulses to his brain and essentially render him senseless. The interrogator sees this not as an ending, but as a possible new beginning for his detainee, but Ga is weary of new beginnings. He has lost everything and survived everyone. When he is able, Ga reaches over and delivers himself a lethal dose of electricity.