A Sketch of the Fading Sun

A vast number of Korean literary works have been written dealing with man-woman relationships. Notwithstanding, there has rarely been much written that has grasped, much less challenged, the relationship between man and woman as being one of oppression. As Wan-suh Park notes, it would be safe to say that most writing considered as literature beautifies this oppressive relationship between the two genders. Park feels that not only the oppressor but the oppressed are disguised in the relationship between the genders by 'a mask of beautiful and familiar public morals'. This mask has been passed from one generation of women to another until it has become almost a woman's flesh. Park's heroines are women who are struggling to remove these masks while at the same time fearing any sort of change. Written after the Korean War and the separation of North and South Korea, Ms Park also delves into the tremendous influence this war and its aftermath continues to have on the lives of ordinary people so many years after its conclusion.