IV: The observers

Two characters who act as narrative devices and who drive both storylines are Nick Carraway and Moon Dong-eun. Nick serves as narrator in The Great Gatsby, the eyes and ears of readers, whose interpretations and impressions we are encouraged to accept. Dong-eun is the catalyst of The Glory, which traces the final steps of her journey towards achieving vengeance against the five people who 18 years before tormented and terrorized her, forcing her to abandon her dream of a career in architecture. These observant outsiders drive both narratives, and readers and viewers are encouraged to agree with their judgements of others.

1. Outside the classes

Both Nick and Dong-eun are outsiders and serve as a link between the excessively wealthy and established set, the aspiring or illegitimate group, and those who are desperate and disenfranchised.  Nick’s “family have been prominent, well-to-do people in this Middle Western city for three generations” (p.8), and thus he has connections with the upper echelons of society: “Daisy was my second cousin once removed, and I’d known Tom in college” (p.11). Despite this, Nick “lived at West Egg, the – well, the less fashionable of the two” (p.10), which enables him to interact with his less affluent neighbour, Gatsby.  It is through his involvement with Tom Buchanan that Nick meets the Wilsons who languish near the bottom, in terms of financial and social power, of the world Fitzgerald explores in the novel. Dong-eun too exists in a category that seems separate from the clear social classes other characters inhabit, holding a position both within and outside conventional society. From a disadvantaged background, she is estranged from her mother by the time she is 17 years old (ep1), living alone while attending high school. When Dong-eun is forced to abandon her education due to unrelenting bullying and an unwillingness of authorities to support her, viewers next see her in episode 1 working as a kitchen hand at Kimbap Paradise, then cleaning a public spa until finally we see her working in Sungwu Textile factory while simultaneously studying. She then defies the expectations of someone of her low socio-economic background, gaining her GED certificate and enrolling in Education at university. Dong-eun deliberately forms relationships with individuals who will be useful in her complex plot to trap, expose and serve justice on those who wronged her and who deserve to be punished for their involvement in Yoon So-hee’s death. After trawling through his trash for at least six months (ep2), she blackmails the chairman of the Semyeong Foundation from the upper echelons of Seoul society in order to get employment at the right school; she targets the son of the Director of Seoul Joo General Hospital to, among other things, protect So-hee’s body; through her work in the temple, Dong-eun forges a relationship with Tae-uk’s mother, enabling her later to have leverage over Choi Hye-jeong; and through her impressive baduk skills, she gains access to Ha Do-yeong. Her university studies and employment as a teacher in Semyeong enable Dong-eun to move easily within the middle classes while the strong links she forges with Kang Hyeon-nam as well as her long relationship with Gu Seong-hee give Dong-eun access to characters from the lower socio-economic bracket. 

2. Judging everyone

Both Nick and Dong-eun are not only careful observers of other characters, but they also offer readers and viewers clear and often unflattering judgements on these characters. The beginning of The Glory foregrounds Dong-eun’s surveillance of Yeon-jin, Jae-jun, Sa-ra, Hye-jeong and Myeong-o; her judgement of these characters is eventually shared by viewers, as we witness their cruelty, stupidity and lack of integrity. Starting in the first episode of the television series, Dong-eun is shown gathering information on the people she is targeting for revenge. Photographs and documents from this surveillance are seen covering two whole walls of the apartment in Semyeong she rents. In episode 2 she looks through rubbish bins and reassembles shredded documents to glean information that will help her. Dong-eun employs Kang Hyeon-nam in the next episode to continue the surveillance: “Looking for a female worker. Please contact me” (ep.3). The novel, by contrast, focuses on Nick eventually seeing the characters clearly and judging them fairly. Encouraging readers to trust his perspective, Nick describes himself as “one of the few honest people that I have ever known” (p.59). In the opening pages of the novel the narrator seems to claim an open-mindedness that he himself soon discards. Nick declares, “I’m inclined to reserve all judgements” (p.7) and then pronounces judgements on nearly every character he encounters. He acknowledges that he is charmed by Daisy with “her low, thrilling voice” (p.14) and her “lovely” and “bright” face. He is less charmed by Tom who is described as “sturdy … with a hard mouth and a supercilious manner… shining arrogant eyes… [with] a cruel body” (p.12). In the final chapter Nick declares that “they were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness… and let other people clean up the mess they had made…” (p.170). Of Gatsby he observes, “there was something gorgeous about him, some heightened sensitivity to the promises of life, as if he were related to one of those intricate machines that register earthquakes ten thousand miles away” (p.8). Just prior to the “holocaust” (p.154) of chapter 8, Nick voices his impression of the Buchanans and their ilk to Gatsby: “’They’re a rotten crowd,’ I shouted across the lawn. ‘You’re worth the whole damn bunch put together.’ I’ve always been glad I said that. It was the only compliment I ever gave him, because I disapproved of him from beginning to end” (p.146-7). When Nick bumps into Tom in the final chapter, he initially refuses to shake the other man’s hand, to indicate his disapproval of the wealthy man’s actions, saying, “You know what I think of you” (p.169). By the end of the conversation though, “I shook hands with him; it seemed silly not to, for I felt suddenly as though I were talking to a child” (p.170). 

3. Out for justice

Both characters are also ‘outside’ the narratives in that they are, in a sense, playing a different game to all the other characters, one guided by or imbued with their sense of justice. While other characters focus on marriage, children or careers, Dong-eun is focused only on achieving justice for herself and her dead former school acquaintance. When Yeo-jeong attempts to talk Dong-eun out of her revenge, she rejects the fairytale alternative he seems to offer, declaring, “I don’t need a prince. I need a swordsman” (ep.6) or executioner.  When Nick realizes that, despite Gatsby’s previous generosity and hospitality, everyone is avoiding the now-dead man, “I felt a certain shame for Gatsby” (p.161).  He takes on the role of spokesperson for his dead neighbour: “I was responsible, because no one else was interested” (p.156). Nick imagines Gatsby appealing to him for help: “‘Look here, old sport, you’ve got to get somebody for me. You’ve got to try hard. I can’t go through this alone.’” (p.157). Through this process Nick feels closer to the dead Gatsby than to any character still alive. “I began to have a feeling of defiance, of scornful solidarity between Gatsby and me against them all” (p.157).