“The Martyred” by Richard E. Kim
Reading Summary The chapters from 30 to 40 turn out to be a symbolic end of the story where a faith, war, truth, and duties have to go hand in hand. The main character, Captain Lee, have to live through his last trials and prove his own positions and ideals. It is not an easy task for him to convince the other people to follow him, still, he is not ready to leave them. The chosen chapters of the book “The Martyred” by Richard Kim prove that a religion can define the way of life considerably.
Through these chapters, it becomes clear that Mr. Shin is not fascinated with the idea to be a religious man. “All my life I have searched for God… but I found only man with all his sufferings… and death, inexorable death!” (Kim 159). Mr. Shin seems to be frustrated with all his actions and beliefs, but he has nothing to do but stay with the other people, who are looking for some support and explanations, and provide them with the required portion of help and “the illusion of hope” (Kim 160).…show more content… He died to prove his ideas and the correctness of his decisions. Park’s death and his decision to be buried as a Christian proves that the power of faith may be huge indeed even over the people, who have not believed in it for a long period of time.
In general, the chapters under consideration describe the struggle between the necessity to follow certain duties and to have a faith. The majority of characters (Mr. Shin, Chaplain Koh, and Major Minn) prove that their faith in God and their responsibilities are stronger than anything else in their lives. And such characters like Mr. Lee and Mr. Chang demonstrate how it is possible to stay loyal to their military services and not to neglect the faith as a leading factor of a human