• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.46
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• pp.1-20
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• 2017

This study tries to examine the emotion of the elite characters in Son Jangsoon's early novel, The Koreans. In this novel, most characters are found to have an envy feeling, except for two female characters, Heeyeon and Sue Han. Although the writer does not consciously explore the envy feeling here, she excellently represents the harmful effects of the envy feeling. In this novel, the envy feeling is related to the desire for success and its frustration. In 1960's, people had high expectation of improvement in their individual lives. The elite groups were more likely to have a successful life with good education. But in this novel, these elite people suffer from frustration of their desire and experience of the envy feeling. The impressive point in this novel is that not only females but also males are shown to have the envy feeling. Envious people have the tendency to compare themselves with people around them, to feel shame in an inferior position and to aspire for superiority. In these envious characters, the feeling of envy reveals their lack, their inferiority and it never provides them with the way to escape from their suffering situation. The writer suggests that the envy feeling can be overcome by pursuing other valuable things and focussing not on other people's desire but on their own desire.