ABSTRACT
This chapter talks about a woman called Ojaknyo, who is sick, wrapping herself up in a quilt but the fever burned on. Something about Ojaknyo's illness bothered Pak Hun. Ojaknyo shuddered each time Hun placed a fresh towel on her forehead. She tried to suppress her groans, but her chest heaved as she gasped for breath, then she began to rave. This is one of the stories written by the Korean writer of the 20th century, Hwang Sun-won. In the stories included in this book, he has portrayed an entire community caught in the political and social firestorm that brings out the selfishness, cruelty and ignorance of simple people, but also shows their loyalty and nobility. Compelling here, too, is a heroine who represents the "eternally feminine" for all Korean men, and the setting, the harsh political, psychic and physical landscape of rural postwar North Korea rarely glimpsed by the outside world.
