디시인사이드

[When Life Gives You Tangerines] Act 2 has been released. If Act 1 was a work dealing with ordinary life, Act 2 focuses more on the personal growth of [Ae-soon] and [Geum-myeong]. The first two episodes focus on [Ae-soon]'s growth as a parent, and the last two episodes focus on Ae-soon's growth as an adult. The society of the parent generation and the child generation is still cold and cruel, although its appearance has changed. However, even knowing that coldness and cruelty, we live fiercely within it. The process of growing up in that fierceness is depicted more vividly by comparing the lives of [Ae-soon] and [Geum-myeong].

Act 2 begins with [Ae-soon] building a family with [Gwan-sik]. Through the process of having three children, buying a boat, and becoming a section chief, Ae-soon, who had nothing, builds a happy family through constant effort. They live in a dangerous environment where they have to work all day and never know when they will die, but they find joy in the process of acquiring things one by one. However, that joy is short-lived, and they are visited by an indelible pain. While [Ae-sun] goes out to find [Geum-myeong], the youngest [Dong-myeong] is swept away by the waves and loses his life. [Ae-sun] and [Gwan-sik] blame themselves and do not eat or drink for three days. However, their sadness is short-lived, and they soon get up again when they realize that if they lie down, their sadness will be passed on to their children.

[Geum-myeong] also inherited [Ae-soon]'s blood and never conforms to the injustice of society, but instead pursues her dreams. However, the world is not easy. All sorts of realistic problems plague Geum-myeong. Just as [Ae-soon] was given the opportunity to compromise with reality by marrying the captain, [Geum-myeong] also was given the opportunity to compromise by taking the proxy exam, which was difficult to refuse, but she did not give in and overcame it. [Geum-myeong], like [Ae-soon], neither gave in to the pressure and trials of society, nor did she turn everything upside down or deny it, but instead faced them and grew.

The meaning of [the sea] to [Ae-soon] is not limited to a simple living space. The sea swallowed up [Ae-soon]'s father, took her mother's life, and eventually took the life of her most precious child. Despite this, [Gwan-sik] must still ride a boat out to sea to fill her family's hungry stomachs, and Ae-soon must live in front of the sea. It gives [Ae-sun] endless trials and pain, but at the same time, it is an indispensable space for [Ae-sun]'s life.

In some ways, the society we live in is like the ocean in the novel. It takes away precious people and causes sadness, but it also allows us to live. If we just blame society and lie down, we won't be able to move forward even a single step, but if we get up and fight hard in society, the small happinesses that bloom there will accumulate and become joy. Just as [Ae-soon] buys a boat and lives feeling the happiness of watching [Geum-myeong] grow, [Ae-soon's] ocean and [Geum-myeong's] 20s flow beautifully in society.

The sea in <A Child and My Sea> included in IU's album 'Lilac' has the same meaning as the sea in this work. In <A Child and My Sea>, 'A Child' is the speaker in his childhood and 'I' is the speaker as an adult. The sea is the object of the speaker's admiration and the space that helps the speaker grow. And in the end, the speaker grows up to be able to move forward freely without closing his eyes even if he gets swept away by the waves of the sea and loses his way. Just like Ae-soon in his childhood, Ae-soon as an adult, and Geum-myeong who is following the same path, the space called society is exactly like the sea in <A Child and My Sea>. And for Ae-soon, even the fact that that space is really the 'sea' is an interesting element.

If in Act 1, we found sparkle in the way ordinary people live, in Act 2, we shed more light on the intense space of society. The title of Episode 6, 'Salmin Survives', can be said to be the theme that runs through Act 2. No matter how difficult and full of trials a society may be, the task given to us is to find happiness and live in it. And Aesun-do, Gwansik-do, and Geummyeong-do are faithfully carrying out that task. Isn't that what they want to say to us who watch this work? '[Salmin], because we are alive.'