Morality In Cranes

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“Cranes,” by Hwang Sun-won, is set in Korea in the 1950’s during the Korean war. The story about two childhood friends, Song-Sam and Tok-chae, that grew apart and are reunited years later as enemies. Through the protagonist, Song-sam, Hwang demonstrates how morality changes one’s fate. During the days of Sam-song and Tok-chae’s childhood, they caught a Tanjong crane and kept it as their “pet” without their parents knowing. One day, they hear some neighbors saying that someone was coming to catch the cranes, “... the two boys dashed off to the field… they untied the crane’s feet and wings...the boys’ crane stretched its long neck with a whoop and disappeared into the sky.” (Hwang 1407) The bird that was supposed to be killed achieved freedom and happiness. Song-sam and Tok-chae did not have to save the bird. They could have just let the crane get captured and killed, …show more content…
Furthermore, in order to stay alive during the dangerous times, Tok-chae must escape and find refuge. However, he chooses to stay with his sick father until the last moments of his life because he is a filial son. Tok-chae once considers escaping to a safe place, even if he had to carry his sick father on his back, but in the end he decides not to because his father told him that, as a farmer, they could not leave their land behind. Besides, even Tok-chae escaped, he did not know where he could find refuge. Tok-chae did what he felt was the right thing to do. He listened to his father, stayed behind, and allowed himself to be captured by his enemies. Morality changes people’s thoughts and the decisions they make. The characters in the story followed their hearts and made the decisions based on their morals. These decisions change based on a person’s morals change fate of another, leading something or someone to find freedom and meaning in

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