총 44페이지

Eye of The Argus
The Bloody Society
of the Unbloodied
ByLeeJae-won
EditorialConsultant
W
henmyfamilyleftthetheaterafewdaysago,mysisterwasinarushsothatshecouldbeontimeforherpart-timejob.
Iaskedherwhetherornotitmatteredifshearrivedalittlelate.“Therestaurantmanagersaidthathewasgoingtofire
someoftheunreliablepart-timerssincetherestauranthasrecentlyexperiencedadecreaseinsales,”sheexplained.“So
ImightbefiredifIamlatetoday.”Thefollowingday,Ireadashortstorythatwascalled“Fired,”whichIhadreadaboutayear
ago.Thestoryfeltdifferentthistime,however,becauseofwhatmysisterhadsaidtome.
Ihadpreviouslyunderstoodittobeabouttheconflictbetweenapart-timeworkerandamiddlemanager,andIhadjustfocused
on the plot which I will now briefly describe. The new boss of a company orders a manager named Eun-young to dismiss an
underperforming part-timer named Hye-mi. After Eun-young says goodbye to Hye-mi after having informed her that a decision
hadbeenmadetofireher,sheputsinanappealagainsthermanager,statingtherelevantregulationsofdischarge.Asaresult,Eun-
young provides her junior staff with rights that are guaranteed by the regulations and offers Hye-mi a retirement fund. Later on
Eun-youngevenpaystheredundantworkerasettlementbasedoninsuranceissueswithherownmoney.Whentheymeetforthe
lasttime,Eun-youngasksHye-mi,“Waseverything(youdid)plannedfromthebeginning?”However,Hye-mijustsaysgood-bye
toherandthestoryends.
WhenIreaditforthesecondtime,IdidnotjustfeelsorryforHye-mi.Rather,Idecidedtoputmyselfinherposition,imagining
that my sister could find herself in a similar situation. As a result, I saw Hye-mi’s actions in a completely different light. Her
demandforrightsasapart-timeworkerandstatementabouttheregulationswere“just.”Infact,thecompanyshouldhavegiven
her those rights before she made her appeal. Why then did I accept the story as simply being a dispute between two people,
missingthispointfirsttimeround?Moretothepoint,whydidIseeHye-mi’sdemandsforherrightsasbeingtheprimarycauseof
theconflict?
Theostensiblereasonisthatthereisagapbetweenthestory’scontentandformat.ThemaincontentrelatestoHye-mi’sremoval
fromherjobbutitisseenfromEun-young’spointofview,andwecanthereforeonlybeawareofherstateofmind.Thosereaders
who would naturally see things from the perspective of the middle manger would not be sympathetic towards Hye-mi, as they
wouldtendtoseeherconductashavingbeen“planned.”However,thisapproachdoesnotprovideuswithasufficientexplanation
ofthesituation.Perhaps,thereasonwhyIwasuncomfortablewithHye-mi’sactionswasduetotheperceptionofpart-timeworkers
inSouthKoreansocietythatisinherentinallofus.Theperceptionisthatyoumay“easilyfirepart-timers”andhowdaretheyask
for“workers’rights.”
Part-timersarenotaloneinbeingtreatedinthisway.Inoursociety,theweakneedtolookafterthemselves,justlikeHye-mi,if
theyaretobegrantedtheirfundamentalrights.Afewweeksago,theparentsofdisabledchildrenhadtofightfortheirrights.On
Sept. 5, residents in Seoul’s Gangseo district gathered to discuss the future of a public real estate project. The parents asked for
theestablishmentofaschoolforthedisabled.However,someresidentsfiercelyopposedtheirrequest,astheywereworriedabout
decliningrealestatevaluesasaresultofthenewschool.Despitemakingareasonablerequest,theparentseventuallykneltinfront
oftheiropponents,beggingfortheirunderstanding.Therighttoreceivebasiceducationisafundamentalhumanrightsecuredby
theconstitution.Nonetheless,fordisabledchildrentoenjoytheirbasicrightsinthiscountry,theirparentshavetokneel.
ThesociologistZygmuntBaumanstatedthat“Unbloodypeople’sindifferencetoothersmakesabloodysocietypossible.”Many
ordinarypeople,whoarenotcruel,includingmyself,haveallowedsociety’scrueltytoflourish.Weallliveournormalliveswhile
ignoringthepainofotherpeopleandtheirreasonabledemands.Onlyifwelistentotheirvoicescanthisbrutalaspectofournation
becomeathingofthepast.Ifwedonot,itcouldbemembersofourownfamilieswhobecomethenextvictims.
gh10117@hufs.ac.kr
39
OCTOBER 2017

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