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.