Analysis of The Rain Shower (Sonagi) by Hwang Sun Won

           The Rain Shower or popularly known in Korea as Sonagi, is a short story written by Hwang Sun Won—one of the greatest writers in Korea. The story was written in the year 1953 and was published in 1959 during the Korean War, and this story portrays the innocent love of two young people and the unfailing beauty of the nature.

             Sonagi is a severe rain that comes in the afternoon and it suddenly stops. In the story, it symbolized the intimate adolescence love between two young people but their love story ended so soon and it showed the irony of fate that makes every individual’s heart faint. This remarkable love story touches the heart of many Koreans; it became famous; moreover, it became part of the required curriculum in Korea. A Korean film director, Ko Young Nam adapted the story into a film but he added twists to the characterizations. In the movie, the characters are adult and the ending is cry different from the original story; also, they made it a parody, and it was shown in the famous movie “My Sassy Girl”, it was also adapted into dramas, cartoons, and the band Boohwal made a song out of this story.

               This story gave a strong impact to the emotions of every Koreans and it moved the hearts of the readers because of its poignancy. It is indeed one of the most unforgettable, most loved and most adored story in Korean literature.

SETTINGS

Place: Unknown rural area: Stream, Rice fields, Hilltop, School, and House

Day: Other days and Saturday

Time: Afternoon and Evening

Weather:  Sunny and Rainy

Season: Harvest season

                    Those settings mentioned above made the story somehow unique and they represent the simple but amazing life in a rural area. These settings—the place, the time, the weather, and the day suit the concept of the story and they’re perfect enough to make the story extraordinary and unforgettable.

CHARACTERS AND CHARACTERIZATION

                 The author of the story (Hwan sun won) did not name the major and the minor characters; he only indicated the gender or identity of the characters which are the boy, the girl, the boy’s parents and the long bearded farmer, but there is one name mentioned in the story which is Mr.Yun or Yun’s family. Mr. Yun is just a passive character, his name was mentioned but in the story, he did not exist. Hwan sun won focused on the physical aspect or actions of the character rather than their mental and emotional aspects.

Ø  The Boy

The boy is the major character of the story. The boy completed the story and the story circulated around him—from the beginning up to the end. The boy is also considered as a flat or static character because he did not change. He is consistent with his attitudes and behavior until the story ended. furthermore, he’s simple and timid. He fell in love with the girl just at first sight.

Ø  The Girl

The girl is also considered as a major character because she contributed a significant role in the story. Without the girl the story will not flow smoothly. The girl is the one whom the boy fell in love to; therefore, if the girl did not exist, the story will not be interesting; also the girl made the story poignant. She’s frank, adventurous and she appreciates the boy’s effort.

Ø  Long Bearded farmer

The farmer is considered as a minor character. He showed in the middle of the story wherein he warned the boy of the coming shower. His role is not significant, he just signaled the conflict of the story.

Ø  The Father and the Mother

These two characters are considered as the minor characters. They just showed at the end of the story; however, their role is somehow important because they signal the end of the story. The story ended when these two characters talked about the girl and the tragedy happened in their family.

  

CONFLICTS

      (Man vs. Nature)

        The author emphasized the beauty of nature, but he also used it as the root of the conflict in the story. In the story, from the first place, the author showed the aesthetic side of the nature (read the story).

        The conflict started when the shower came. The two young people were playing in the hilltop. They’re seizing the beauty of the nature and they’re picking flowers. Suddenly, on their way home a heavy rain poured. They had nothing to hide themselves from the rain. They found a shack nearby and they sheltered themselves there. But still, they were soaked in the rain. The girl trembled and her lips turned blue. The rain stopped and the boy carried the girl in his back. After that, the girl did not show up. The boy was worried and so he looked her up in her classroom but he did not see her. He went to the stream where he first saw her. He saw the girl sitting on the stepping stone and he was relieved. He’s glad that finally after days missing her, he finally found her. The girl told the boy that she’s been sick for few days and they’re moving. After that talk, the girl did not show up again. The boy really felt deep sad of what he heard and he suddenly lost from his consciousness, he’s not aware of what he’s doing. He kept on thinking about the girl. One night, he secretly picked walnuts from Deoksoi’s tree—the best walnuts in their village. He wanted to give them to the girl but he forgot to tell the girl that they should see each other to the stream before the girl moves.

        One night, while he’s lying in his bed, the boy thought of going in the house of the girl because he badly wants to see her when he heard his parents talking about the Yun’s family and at the end of their conversation, they mentioned the girl and the tragedy happened to her and to her family.

POINT OF VIEW

        The author used the third person limited point of view. Although there are two major characters, the author expressed only the thought of the single character which is the boy. He knows what the boy is doing and thinking. He focused to the boy regardless to the other characters.

        It is noticeable in the middle part of the story that the author used third person limited point of view when the two kids split after they had their last talk. The focused blamed on the boy. The author expressed there the emotion of the boy “On his way home after parting from the girl, the boy found himself repeating countless times to himself, ‘The girl is moving house.’ He did not feel particularly regretful or sorrowful. However, the boy was unaware of the sweetness of the jujube he was chewing”(Page 5). The girl’s point of view was not shown. Questions will pop in readers’ mind: What happened to the girl after parting with the boy? What did the girl feel? What happened to her when she’s lying on her bed or how she suffered from her illness? Does the girl felt something towards the boy?, these might be the questions that will enter in readers’ mind. Well, it’s the author’s technique to make his story mysterious.

        The author used this point of view because he wants his reader to feel the outcomes from the point of view of the other characters and he want to leave his readers wondering about the feelings or emotions of the other characters and interpret the emotions or actions of the other characters by the boy’s eyes.

PLOT

EXPOSITION

         The boy spies the girl on the stream everyday. One day, the girl noticed the boy hiding behind the reeds and then he throw pebbles towards him. Saturday came, the boy went again in the stream to see the girl but she was not there. Later on, he saw the reflection of the girl on the water and she’s coming over. The boy run and he fell on the water because he skipped one stepping stone on the stream. Another day came, at the same place, the boy went there and this time. The girl spoke to him and ask him to go to the hilltop.

RISING ACTION

        The two young people walk to reach the hilltop. As they walk, they play and run around the rice fields. Finally, they have reached the hilltop, the boy picked some flowers and he handed them to the girl. They were so happy seeing the beautiful scenery down the hilltop. The girl, was about to pick a flower when she slipped on a steep slope. Her knee was wounded, the boy suck the blood flowing on the girl’s knee and gave her an herbal medicine. Soon they decided to go home and the boy carried the girl to the calf. The owner of the calf came and told them to go home because of a coming shower.

CLIMAX

        Their surroundings turned dark, clouds became thick and grey, strong wind started to blow and suddenly a heavy rain poured out. They found a ruined shack, they had no choice but to fit themselves there. Afterwards, the girl trembled. The boy wrapped his coat around the girl and the girl stared to the boy (she’s starting to fall in love with the boy). The shack is too narrow for the both of them so, the boy went inside and he let himself soaked with rain. The girl ordered him to get inside, but he did not follow. Again, the girl ordered him to get inside and at last he followed. A later time, the rain subsided. The fields were flooded and the ditch was overflowed. The boy carried the girl on his back.

        After that day, the girl did not show up. The boy searched for her in the school but she’s not there. He went to the stream where he first saw her, she was there sitting on a stepping stone. She told the boy that she’s sick and her family decided to move to a town. The boy and the girl felt downcast and sorrowful as they parted. The boy thought of the girl after the parted. Evening came, the boy went to Deoksoi’s walnuts tree secretly to pick some walnuts. He wanted to give them to the girl. All night long, the boy thought about the girl, he even lost his consciousness as if he’s hypnotized. He did not even care of having a rash while he’s peeling walnuts with his hands. He really wanted to see the girl but he remembered: he forgot to say that they should meet before the girl leaves.

FALLING ACTION

        One day, he returned home from school. He saw his father wearing a formal attire and his holding a chicken. He asked his father if where he was going but his father did no answer him. He turned to her mother and uttered the same question. His mother told him that his father will go to the Yuns family and they said that they will move the next day. The boy again thought about the girl, He is awake yet he is not with himself. He touched the walnut on his pocket and with his other hand he’s breaking the reed’s stem.

ENDING (RESOLUTION)

         Evening came, he still thought of the girl and he said to himself that he should go to the house of the girl to see her. His father has arrived home and started to talk with his husband about the Yuns family. From his room, the boy was listening. He heard his father talked about the girl. In the end, his father said that the girl died because of illness and her family couldn’t afford providing her the medical care she needed. She also said that the girl is extraordinary because she wanted to be buried wearing the dress she wore the day she died.

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

SYMBOLISM

Ø  Sonagi or the Brief Rain Shower

            -It is the title of the story and it represents the whole essence of the story which is the intimate love between two young people and just like the rain, their love story suddenly ended.

Ø  Young white Radish 

            -Symbolizes the innocence of the two kids and the bitterness or tragedy happened in their love story.

Ø  Water on the Stream (Matures Daily) 

            -Symbolizes the love that the boy felt towards the girl; it symbolizes the love growing inside his heart.

HYPERBOLE

Ø  His Head was spinning.

Ø  Out of breath 

Ø  In a flash everything around them turned dark purple.

Ø  Big raindrops. 

Ø  Raindrops can be heard striking the oak leaves. 

Ø  An instant, a curtain of rain bars the way ahead. 

Ø  Her lips gone blue. 

Ø  Great flood of water. 

Ø  The boy felt his heart begin to race. 

Ø  A sorrowful look came into the girl’s dark eyes.

PERSONIFICATION

Ø  A feeling of loneliness was growing.

Ø  The scarecrow sways. 

Ø  Foot of the hills.

Ø  The water rose. 

Ø  The water in the stream matured daily.

Ø  The old school looked very near beneath the clear blue sky. 

EUPHEMISM

Ø  “We’re vacating the house.”

Ø  “The whole family line of Mr. Yun is cut off.”

APOSTROPHE

Ø  You big nuts, lots of you, come on, fall down, lots of you, fall.

ASSONANCE

Ø  Felt his face flash. 

SIMILE

Ø  Holding the Valerian like a parasol. 

OVERALL ANALYSIS

            Rain Shower or Sonagi, the most love Korean love story written by one of the greatest writer in Korea, Mr. Hwang Sun Won. It is a story of the innocent love of two young people. The author used the Description in writing the story. The entire story described the emotions of the characters as well as their actions. He did not exactly named the emotions and actions of the characters, instead he described how they behaved and acted in the story. The author also described the settings in a detailed manner. He described what mind can possibly visualized to develop the readers’ vivid imagination. In the end of the story, the dress that mentioned there was the same dress that she wore when the boy and her feel in love with each other. From the day he met the boy, she fell in love with him; with the care and gentleness he showed up towards her. The author did not give the story a happy ending. However, that sad ending made the story captivating and unforgettable. The reason why the author did not give the story a happy ending is because he wants his readers to use their vivid imagination to predict what will happen next.

            Now, the lesson that we could get in this story is that let your heart love and explore. Being in love at a young age is not always wrong because whether you like it or not, love will strike you anytime at any age. Love is unpredictable and when it came, cherish and embrace it. Grab the chance to make memories; grab the chance to love and to be loved. Love is unpredictable as well as death, it will come anytime, so take the chance to fall in love and whenever death will come, you are blessed because at least you experienced love which is the greatest thing in the whole world; and whenever your loved ones died, yes you will grieve but at least you have made unforgettable memories with him/her that you can cherish and treasure in your heart and mind as long as you’re alive.

"EVERYTHING"

Eyes wide open, but you’re heedless

He’s there, smiling, celebrating you—his little princess

Every smile of you tickled and made him tearless

Of all the great things, you’re the greatest— treasure that is priceless.

He swore, he promised, he’ll protect you from danger and distress.

Every crawl you attempted to make, he’s there to keep you safe.

Every crooked step you made, he’s there to guide your way;

He’s there when you cried, he’s there when you’re sad; he never left, he always stayed.

He stayed right beside you when everyone seems not to like you.

He's there and surely he will always stay right beside you.

His love..

Strong and firm like an oak tree;

Wide and deep like the ocean and sea.

His love..

Seems unending

For you, he’ll give everything.

Growing up, you turned wild and free

His little baby has grown up so quickly.

From innocence, you're now a lady.

As time goes by, you realized that this is not the person you wanted to be,

this is not the life you wanted to live

And so, from reality, you're trying to flee

Eyes wide open, but your heedles

Night and day, he works hard. He's tireless.

Night and day, you drink, you go to club; to satisfy yourself. You're fearless!

One night, you hated him without any reason, you shouted at him. You are reckless!

One day, you avoided him, you don't want your friends to see you with him.

You're ashamed of him.

He gave everything.

And now, your eyes are wide open, this time, you're aware.

He's dying. It's like a nightmare.

For you, he'll do anything. Everything.

He said, "I never regretted choosing you over your mother, I don't and will never regret to sacrifice my everything to give you all you want, all you need. Even my life."

Under your bed, you saw a dress.

The dress, you've been staring at, while he's looking at you.

A beautiful dress, looks priceless.

He saw, "Dress, $300", and look behind him, "$300 for a kidney". He'll do everything for you.

Everything.

                         I composed the poem because I was triggered by the picture. Those subjects are actually my uncle and my niece. After looking at the photo, I suddenly thought about a father's love. So, the outcome of my idea is the poem above. Truly, a father's love is incomparable; it's deep. Indeed, a father can do everything for her children and we sometimes forget about that. This poem would remind us how much our fathers love us.
I listed some tips below to help you write your poem. I actually learned these tips from school, from our creative writing class. These tips could are also applicable in writing stories.

1. Finding a Trigger
                   Finding a trigger is like finding  an inspiration or a subject. Trigger can be everything; it can be found under the sun. The only thing matters is how will you write it. Our professor gave us an example, it's not a poem, it's a flash fiction but this would serve as an example of creative writing.
                   There was a girl sitting on a bench and she's reading a book near the lake. As you pass there everyday, you always see her doing the same thing. You went curious, so you observed her and scrutinized her movement, what she'll do next. You hide yourself behind the tree and see her walking towards the lake. 
Minutes later, the lake turned into wonderland, beautiful place and a guy, a prince went out from the mysterious lake and kissed her. So, now, we can conclude that the girl always stays there not just to read book or wait for her boy friend from the school, but to see the wonderland to open to see the prince, the one she loves. In writing a poem, you should make your trigger extraordinary. Write creatively, make it dramatic; make it magical. Don't just write in a typical and traditional manner. Make it interesting.

2. Write at the Right Time
                   Writing a poem isn't so easy, you should be interested and enthusiastic or else, your creativity won't work. So write poem if you're ready to right. Do not push yourself.

3.  Read other Works
                    Reading is very important. By reading other's works, you can learn some tips and new styles in writing that you can adopt, but it's much better if you create your own unique style in writing.

4. If You got stuck, go for a walk.
                 This often happens to me. Sometimes, it took me one week to finish my poem because I do not know how to end it.  What I do is I relax myself and wait for the ideas to just pop up in my mind.
 If you lost your motivation or interest in writing and you cannot finish your poem anymore, you should relax and wait until it comes back because your work will not be effective if you will loose your motivation and interest in it.

                       For now, these are just the tip that I could share. I hope these could help you in writing your poem!

What Should We Do with Cats?

For a start, you might be curious why cats? Why not dogs?  Well, aside from cats are my most favorite house pets, I created this today’s post because I have observed that many people take cats for granted. They tend to loath cats, they are scared with them well in fact, they should not be; people also make fun with cats and they were being tortured and killed with no particular and justified reasons. That’s way I am sharing this thoughts to open the eyes of the people, hoping that they would be aware that cats are not toys or something. Like dogs, cats can be everyone’s best friends too. Furthermore, the following statement below were based on my own experiences. These are the things that I did and I do with my cats and with the stray cats.

1.       
      1. Keep them clean

If you have cats in your house, keeping them clean frequently is very important. Bathing your cats everyday would keep them feel fresh and pampered, also it has good benefits to their skin and fur. However, when you bathe your cats, you should be careful because they might bite you or bruise you with their claws. Having said that, claws should also be trimmed. But warning! In cutting your cats’ claws, you should be more extra careful or else you will hurt them. Cut only the tip or the sharpest part of your cats’ nails, do not cut the whole nails of your babies, that will hurt them. Also, it is important that you clean your cats’ ears or else they would get infected because of the dirt that enters in their cute ears.  You might as well brush your cats’ teeth to make them more clean and neat. These are the things that I do with my babies since I don’t have enough resources to visit a veterinary for their grooming.

2.       2. Give them Attention

Cats are known to be the attention seekers. When your cats approach you, they might sit and/or sleep on your lap, turn around your legs, thrust their heads on you, they continuously meows, they start to bite you, and they stare at you. If your cats do that, they need your attention and comfort, because the reasons why they behave in such ways could be due to stress, hunger, worry, and they might be in pain. The best thing that you could do for them is to pet them, play with them, hug them and make them feel safe.

3.      3.  Keep them inside your house or fence.

Keeping your cats inside your house would make them safe from the strangers that could hurt or steal them. Also, keeping them away from the outside environment could keep them free from dirt and viruses. So, if you want your cats to be protected, do not let them jump to your fence and explore your neighbors’ houses.

4.       

                  4. Don’t Put Them Behind the Bars

I do believe that cats and any other animals deserve the liberty to play and leisure. Putting them on a cage might cause extreme stress, anxiety, and phobia. Before, I had exactly three cats in our house, but then they turned into a large numbers. From three they become ten because my two female cats delivered more cute kitties. My father built them a large cage at our backyard because having them inside the house is a topsy-turvy. Weeks later, my mom saw the mother of the kittens ate its baby. I was so alarmed! We feed them three times a day and I even bought a cat food for them, yet that cat ate her own baby. What I did after that is I frequently let the two mother cats go from the cage. I observed them, their behavior suddenly changed, they become traumatic and more aggressive. Days have past, the other kittens were missing and we suspected that their mom ate them, so we set these cats free. We did not put them in their cage. After school, I noticed that my cats were missing. Without, informing me, my father brought them to our farm and there, they did not come back. Now, the lesson here is that putting cats into a cage is the worst thing that you could ever do to them. So let your cats be free, play and explore but keep an eye to them because the environment outside your house is dangerous.

5.       5. Give the homeless a home

Rescued Cat: Nova (2016)

I have rescued three cats, but the most memorable rescue that I did is when I was in the 2^nd year college. It was morning, on my way to school when I saw a tricycle driver playing with something and he even throw that thing so hardly. I am so surprised when I saw this thing; it was a cat, a very skinny, and lame cat. She has a rope tied around her neck as if she was beaten while hanging. My heart shrunk when I saw that cat; I felt like I was the one who was tortured, I almost cried. The cat then ran and hid herself behind the plants. I got her, no matter how dangerous it is to get her because of the possibility that she might bite me, I still did. Even I got bruises because of the plants that she hid in, I still did my best to grab her. When I got her and hugged her even if the people around me—the passing jeepneys, the students, tricycles drivers and others were looking at me and might probably think that I’m crazy, I still saved her life. I brought her with me inside the classroom, because I did not want to just leave her somewhere inside the campus because students might hurt her. I really wanted to take her home, but I hesitated because my father will surely scold me out. So after the struggle of deciding, I decided to leave the cat in the guards’ house, so I talked to the guards and they let me put Nova (the cat’s name) in their cottage. Weeks later, I’ve seen Nova got well and seemed so comfortable.  Days later, I was about to take her home, but I did not see her. Until now, I’ve been looking for Nova inside the campus but there’s no sign of her. I really, really regret for what I did. I should’ve taken her home so I’ve watched her grow and get better. That’s why I have promised to myself that once I had a stable job, I would build a house for stray cats.

                So, the lesson that we can acquire to my story is that if ever you see cats that are being abused, do not hesitate to help them, rescue them, and give them home.

6.       
  6. Defend Them

Putting yourself in their shoes is the best thing that you could do to understand them. Some people are narrow minded, heartless, and wicked to cats. You, the owner, concerned citizens, and other organizations are the only ones who could understand and defend them from those people who hurt them. One way that you could do is to encourage and inform people that cats were not created to be battered, killed, and ate, instead cats were made to give us happiness, comfort, and relieve our sadness and stress whenever we feel so down. Cats, indeed can be good best friends. They deserved to be loved. You, people might not understand them with their language, they might not understand you as well but loving them like how you love your family or lover is a way of showing them and the world that you care, you love them, protect them, and you will defend them.

      Cats and other animals are sentient being meaning, they’re like humans too; they have emotions. Treat them the way that they deserved to be treated. Do not be so cruel to them, and do not act as if we are the only creatures that are existing and living in this world. We’re not the only ones that need and want to survive. We have to open our eyes and minds, sympathize to them and love them as true members of our family.

Autumn