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Can the the journey a character must go through to achieve their goal help us navigate our own life, toward our own goals? Check out Taylor Kim's analysis of Jiwoo Kim's Yeouya to decide for yourself.
Analyzing Kaizen Through Jiwoo Kim's Yeouya
by Taylor Kim
Yeouya by Jiwoo Kim is the story that won the 2023~2024 His Writes contest. A short story that follows a story about a successful writer who suffers from internal conflicts from his past that keep him from his goal. The author of this story highlights many themes through the text of how the character's weaknesses affect throughout the story making it seem complex and interesting to the reader. The story focuses on three themes in terms of character: The Character's Weaknesses and Needs, the Character Web, and the Character Arc. These themes are examples of 改善 kaizen (continuous improvement)! Throughout the story, all three themes represent the journey a character must go through to achieve their goal on how and what causes a character to grow and learn from their mistake to try to be better. After all, that is what makes a story compelling and interesting.
Character Weakness and needs
A character in a story has weaknesses, not just physical but it can also be morally and mentally. A character also has needs and a desire that keeps the character moving through the story. The character of Yeouya follows a weakness that is truly hidden within the story that he can’t move on with his life. He seems to be held back by his past. Some sense of him holds him back. Maybe it’s his girlfriend that holds him back, or maybe it's the sense of nostalgia. The character's weaknesses and needs don’t seem to be directly told to the reader making the reader understand through events and the eyes of the character. Putting us into the shoes of the character and making us reflect on what it feels like to be in their shoes. Highlighting the need that desire comes from overcoming weakness. That weakness is a way or something that holds the character back.
Character Web
Yeouya only has two characters Jinyoung and Yuna. The two characters who seem to be exactly opposite each seem to have different goals in life and different personalities. Each of them seemly getting into a separate path. A character web is not just a relationship or a bond between two characters. Is a way to inspire a character to grow and learn from what they have been through, is a way to inspire the character. A relationship between two characters is what builds a story a character cannot grow on their own. Is it conflict? Yes and no, a character cannot go on their path by themself. They must grow together or grow through other characters because to build yourself, you need others to help you or inspire you to grow.
Character Arc
Character Arc is the way a character grows out through the story. It doesn’t matter what the process or the path where the character has to follow through the story to achieve their goal. In Yeouya, the character is blinded by his past, making it seem impossible to achieve their goal. The character Jinyoung's goal was clearly to finish his book but that is not his main objective. His main objective was to fix himself and try to make himself better. Like our yearly goal for Kaizen, growth is the main theme in this story. While the growth of this story may not be directly given to the readers, the author manages to give a piece of it through her storytelling. The characters must grow to build a story because that is what drives them through the narratives. So Yeouya is not just a story about some author who writes a story and needs to finish his book. No, it is a complex story that many will relate to. Yeouya is a story that follows the path of the main character and how he chooses to approach his goal, in a way to succeed and grow as a better person—making Yeouya a great story for everyone to read.
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