The Orphan Master's Son

The novel contains a number of examples of this theme, which ultimately shows that truth itself is subjective and constantly shifting. In each case, the truth belongs to the storyteller. The first stories that demonstrate this theme belong to the crew of the Junma. While he picks up frequencies on the radio, Jun Do makes up stories to try and understand the American rowers and the strange “sailors” who later turn out to be astronauts orbiting the earth. Later, the crew makes up stories to save their lives when American sailors board their ship and the Second Mate defects. Although it is revealed that the truth of what happened is known to the government, their outrageous story is more palatable to the North Korean people. The Dear Leader himself is a creator of stories; by writing scripts for Sun Moon detailing the struggles of a loyal party member in the hands of foreign enemies the Dear Leader reinvents reality to show himself and North Korea in a positive light, while portraying  such as Japan, South Korea or the United States negatively. The interrogator also develops biographies of prisoners who are enemies of the state, although these biographies seem to have more personal than national relevance.