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Cranes

by Hwang Sun-Won

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Discussion Topic

The main conflict and theme in "Cranes" and its resolution

Summary:

The main conflict in "Cranes" is the ideological and personal divide between two childhood friends during the Korean War. The primary theme is the power of friendship and reconciliation amidst political turmoil. The resolution occurs when one friend, now a soldier, chooses to release the other, symbolizing hope for unity and forgiveness despite the circumstances.

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What is the main theme of "Cranes"?

I think a main theme of this story is the power of friendship.

The story begins with Tokchae being taken prisoner. He is being moved to a new location, and Songsam decides to be the escort. The two men used to be very close friends. As children, Songsam and Tokchae were inseparable. They got into trouble together, shared food together, etc.

Plucking out those needles hurt so much that he could not keep tears from welling up in his eyes. Tokchae produced a fistful of chestnuts from his pocket and thrust them into Songsam’s.

It has been many years since the two characters have seen each other, and they are now on opposite sides of an ideological conflict. When the story begins, Songsam wrestles with how to talk to his former friend. The conversation that eventually ensues has some anger and heat to it. Songsam is upset that his friend could fight for the other side of the conflict, and Songsam wants to know why. Tokchae explains that he wasn't willing to run and leave his family.

The entire conversation is woven with childhood memories of the two men. One of those memories is about the time that the two men caught a crane together. They thought they were going to get into big trouble, so they let it go free. Moments after Songsam remembers this part of their friendship, he turns to Tokchae and suggests that they have a crane hunt right then and there. Tokchae doesn't understand what is happening at first, but then he realizes that Songsam is giving him the chance to escape like the crane instead of being executed.

Despite being on opposite sides of a brutal conflict, the men's friendship runs deeper than the conflict, which shows just how powerful friendship can be.

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What is the main conflict in "Cranes"?

Song-sam and Tok-chae, friends since early childhood, seem to be in conflict with each other as Song-sam leads Tok-chae as a prisoner through war-ravaged Korea. However, Song-sam actually takes his old friend when he finds him tied up as a prisoner in front of the peace office:

Song-sam sat down on the dirt floor and lit a cigarette. Tok-chae was to be escorted to Chongdan by one of the peace policemen. After a time, Song-sam lit a new cigarette from the first and stood up. ”I’ll take the fellow with me.”

Even in the beginning, Song-sam's instinct is to intervene on behalf of his friend; if he had wanted him dead, he could have simply left him where he found him.

The real conflict, then, is between these two old friends and the country which has pitted them against each other, making this conflict man versus society.

As they walk, Song-sam recalls their shared memories: the time they worked together to steal some chestnuts and Tok-chae ended up having to pull chestnut needles from Song-sam's bottom, the way they used to work together to cut fodder for their cows, and the time they caught a Tanjong crane when they were twelve. They have only ended up on opposite sides of this war because Tok-chae remained behind to care for his sick father and take care of the family farm.

A line was drawn after that at the 38th parallel, and the friends find themselves on opposite sides of it as the war in Korea rages. Song-sam has no ill will against his friend; he is simply following the orders he has been given. In the end, he chooses to help Tok-chae escape, proving that the conflict is not man versus man, but instead man versus society.

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What is the main conflict in "Cranes"?

A central conflict in the short story “Cranes” by Hwang Sun-won is that between citizens and their country. The story takes place during the Cold War, when Korea has been divided into two countries (North and South Korea). The childhood friends Tok-chae and Song-sam find themselves in separate countries, suddenly enemies. When Song-sam, now a soldier, volunteers to escort a captured Tok-chae, now a farmer, to an enemy prison, he must reconcile his feelings of loyalty to his country against his feelings of loyalty to his long-ago playmate. As they travel on, Song-sam continues to be reminded of all that Tok-chae did for him when they were young, and yet now they stand on opposite sides of a large international conflict. Song-sam’s decision at the end of the story reveals where his loyalty ultimately lies.

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How is the main conflict in "Cranes" resolved?

Despite being a fairly short story, Hwang Sun-won's "Cranes" is full of conflicts. One of those conflicts is the background conflict that exists between northern Korea and southern Korea at the 38th parallel. On the large scale, this conflict exists between those people that want a republic and those people that are in favor of communism. On a smaller scale, this conflict forced friends, families, and neighbors to choose a side and be in conflict with each other when no such previous conflict ever existed.

This is the case with Songsam and Tokchae. The two men were strong childhood friends, and the conflict forced each of them to make a decision. Songsam escaped and went into hiding while Tokchae stayed behind to protect his family and consequently became a representative for the "enemy."

When the story begins, Tokchae is now Songsam's prisoner, and Songsam has a lot of anger against his friend. He's mad that they are enemies. He's mad that Tokchae didn't run. He's mad at himself for running. While there is conflict between the two men, I would say that the biggest conflict of the story is an internal conflict. Songsam struggles between doing what his orders say he should do and what he knows is the right thing to do for a lifelong friend. In the end, Songsam chooses friendship and his friend's life over following a political agenda and lets Tokchae escape. There is hope that the friendship will continue because Tokchae has a chance to survive once again.

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