The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson
Adam Johnson studied and visited North Korea while writing this Pulitzer prize-winning novel. A published interview with him says that he used incidents that reportedly really occurred in North Korea to create a fictional composite man who experiences many of the typical practices of the country. I had difficulty getting through it, but I kept at it because I greatly regard the fiction chosen for this coveted prize. Yes, books with political statements are often Pulitzer winners, which I find intriguing. For me, It is easier to grasp important political and international concepts by reading fiction than through other means.
There are two parts to the novel. In the first part, Protagonist Jun Do, pronounced John Doe, begins as a person with no identity but then starts to represent “everyman.” He calls himself the son of an orphan master in North Korea but has no memory of either parent. He and other orphans become part of the army, and he patrols the tunnels of the DMZ. He realizes he has to complete many uncomfortable tasks to survive. He spends years kidnapping civilians in Japan and then joins a fishing vessel called Junma. He learns to transcribe English and listens to radio broadcasts in other languages. For several reasons, Jun Do’s chest is tattooed with the picture of Sun Moon, a North Korean national actress. He also interacts with two American women who are rowing around the world. Both Sun Moon and one of the rowers figure prominently in the second part of the novel after Jun Do becomes a false national hero due to fabricated stories and many untruths.
The second part of the novel, entitled “The Confessions of Commander Ga,” is written in the first person, mostly by an interrogator who is chronicling the life of Commander Ga. After visiting Texas, where the Americans are supposed to view Do as a North Korean hero, Jun Do meets Comrade Buc and Wanda, an American who gives him a satellite camera. Do ends up in a prison camp and eventually killing Commander Ga, who is married to Sun Moon. Do then becomes the replacement Ga and replacement husband for Sun Moon. Of course, this new Ga is an imposter, but he becomes a confidant of the Dear Leader, Kim Jong-il. In addition to the biographer/interrogator, we become immersed in national broadcasts that tell the stories of Sun Moon and Imposter Ga in a way that is flattering to the Dear Leader and purports to convey an image of North Korea as the perfect country.
Through Jun Do and his transformation from orphan to hero and then Commander Ga, we learn about the contradictions inherent in North Korean leadership. Nothing is what it seems to be. Citizens can trust no one. Control of the populace is paramount. Violence and disdain of humanity prevail in decisions. Individuals have little sanctity since society does not honor individuals. Structures exist for the good of those in power. Adam Johnson does a great job of showing the lack of freedom and the ant-American propaganda used to convince North Koreans that there is no value to capitalism and freedom. The overall plot is dark and disturbing since there is so little truth in the Dear Leader’s society, and relationships with other human beings are practically nonexistent. All connection and honor are reserved for the Dear Leader; those who challenge the government are eliminated in many troubling ways.
