“I was born from a dream, and now I will fly into the heavens, to the West, into another dream; and if I am awake now, perhaps I shall sleep and wake again to dream this new dream with my mother and my sister.” (Fenkl 271)
In the closing lines of Memories of My Ghost Brother, Fenkl recounts his thoughts about returning to America. The final sentence of the book creates a bridge with the first portion of the book, replacing linear temporality with circular temporality, and mirroring the cycle of trauma and grieving. Through these circular structures, Fenkl attempt to make sense of the relationship between Korea and the U.S. When I was thinking about what to write for my final blog entry, I thought about this circular structure Fenkl had explored in his memoir.
When I read about North Korea cutting of the Red Cross hotline with South Korea, I thought about how far North and South Korea were from reconciliation, especially because of the U.S. presence in South Korea. North Korea cutting off the Red Cross line could be a response to excessive sanctions, the U.S. involvement in Korea, and the U.S. politicization of food aid; this deepens the divide between North and South Korea, escalating the cycle of aggression between the two countries. This cycle reminded me of the cyclical structure of narrative in Memories of My Ghost Brother, which moves back and forth in time, slowly escalating. Unless the U.S. withdraws troops from South Korea, these colonial cycles of violence from the camptowns to the government, which are social, economic, and political, will continue for another sixty years. By questioning the media’s skewed portrayal of North Korea, petitioning the government, and educating more people about what happened in the Korean War, we can begin to challenge this cycle of aggression.
I found this petition to end the Korean War and withdraw U.S. troops from South Korea on the National Campaign to End the Korean War website. I strongly feel that it should have WAY more than 528 signatures.
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