The White Book

White soon becomes defiled, disappears, or fades away. Perhaps the writer, Han Kang, aimed to encapsulate all that is color white that passed through her life in a desperate attempt at immortality.

Characters: A mother who lost two of her preterm infants due to premature birth; the writer Han Kang, who leads adult life; a father who was a teacher and buried his infant himself; the eldest sister who lived for only two hours; the second baby brother who had the chance to live; and the little brother who is preparing for his marriage.

Summary:

"The White Book," a novel by Korean author Han Kang, is a profound philosophical work that recurrently references white objects to convey themes of pain, solace,separation, and life.

The author, Han, drew inspiration from her mother's experience of losing her first child shortly after birth. The premature baby passed away within two hours or even less. The author revisits these somber narratives while residing in a city still haunted by memories of a painful wartime past. This city continues to grieve its losses to this day, prolonging their mourning for as long as possible. In this reflection, she questions whethershe, her family, or her homeland have taken the time to truly find solace, and if her country has ever properly mourned its departed.

It is noticeable that Han Kang divided her novel into three parts: the first part is dedicated to her present and memories, recounting her arrival in a new city and reflecting on past heartbreaks. The second part, titled "She," constitutes the largest section of the novel.

Here, Han Kang dedicates her imagination to contemplating her eldest sister’s diaries, pondering how life might have unfolded if hersister had survived in her place. According to the author's perspective, had the baby - described as having "A white face like a crescent-shaped ricecake" - survived, Han Kang herself might not have been born. If her mother's first and second births had been successful, she speculates, there might not have been a consideration of having more children. Therefore, she asserts,"My existence makes your life impossible."

As for the last part, titled "All the Whiteness," the author shifts from contemplating what might have been, to imagining having her sister "Unni"(언니) by her side for support. The writer then dedicates paragraphs to her present, her son's slumber, and her brother's wedding, before returning to hersister's lament amidst various white elements.

The novel also features black and white photographs of a woman engaging with various white objects against a pale gray backdrop.

White: Is it a symbol of life or death?

The author, Han, takes us on a journey through her novel, leaping from one cloud to another, each with distinct shapes and colors. There's a somber, thought-laden cloud with a grayish hue, followed by a small, almost translucent one. Then, a soft, snow-white cloud appears, succeeded by a very dark, foreboding cloud that seems poised to unleash rain at any moment. This is how I like to characterize Han Kang's transitions between poetic paragraphs, which vary in size and the intensity of their melancholy. So, amidst all these clouds, what did the author do to find solace?

Her solace lies in the color "white." In the first section, "I," the author consistently employs the pronoun"I." I was born as the first child who managed to survive, to parents who had already experienced the loss of two premature infants, each of whom breathed their last after just a few minutes, at most two hours. She grew up with the understanding that she and her younger brother might not have come into existence if her baby brothers, whom her mother lost in her initial two pregnancies, had lived. According to her, "Me being alive means your life is impossible." In her viewpoint, they cannot coexist. Her older sister, in her infancy, never experienced the taste of milk, and the cone cells in her eyes, sensitive to light, hadn't matured enough to discern colors or even her mother's visage. She lived for a mere two hours, acquainted only with the direction of light and the fervent pleas of "don't die" and "for God's sake, don't die," which her mother murmured in a desperate bid to bestow life.

The author relocated to a city where the identities of its streets interweave and intersect with her somber,painful past. She attempts to cover the stained door, marked by dark spots of dirt and rust, but knows that its colors will soon bleed through again.

The narrator finds herself pondering, "Can I give my sister this life?" and wondering why she identifies her sister's lamentations with white things. I grappled with this question upon finishing the first part, "I". The author compiled a list of white elements and remarked, "I wrote about the surge of emotions that each element stirred in me." Thus, she turned to the color white as are fuge from all that is tainted, seeking to dissolve into a world where she can exist as a different soul. Consequently, one of her initial acts after renting an apartment in the pallid city and unpacking her bags was to paint the door white, seeking to blend into the purity and to be stow her life to her white-faced sister, resembling a rice cake.

"But what is white may be defiled," everything that is white could vanish, the white fog dissipates after a while, the sugar cube dissolves in water as the ice melts in the heat, you witness the revolution of white waves and then ultimately observe their decline and demise. The white butterfly's wings lost their white hue after a while, and even the frightened white dog, which I named "Fog" (안개), perished due to diminished warmth. Each white element that traversed her life, mooredfor a moment, and then almost immediately vanished into oblivion, fated for demise and disappearance.

This is how I encountered the list of white items by the author, Han Kang, in the initial section of the second part of the book, "She.” In this segment, she granted her sister the opportunity to live in her stead, endowing her own experiences to her. Thus, she was the one exploring the city, attempting to befriend the white dog tied to the neighbor's gate, who never made a sound and never mistreated her. She was the one escorted by her uncle to fish and identified the anchovy fish that darted past the boat in a gleam, like a thousand shards of silver, their grandeur dissipating into nothingness. I pictured her as a child who panicked on the day she saw her white bones on the X-ray of her skeleton. The author sought to link the evanescent nature of white with her sister, who passed away a mere two hours after her premature birth.

Like the white elements, thewriter dissipates, offering her life to her sister to dwell in a world of white. "If you hadn't stopped breathing, you would have been guaranteed this life instead of me." That color is destined to fade, yet it remains pure and free of impurities. Her sister leaps from one experience to another, from one cloud to the next, always mindful of its transient nature, aware that death lurked behind that white visage reminiscent of rice cakes. Thus, she learns the art of cherishing life, with all its length, complexity, fragility, and strength. Author Han Kang embroiders a tapestry of white and grey experiences for her. At times, her sister traverses a life as luminous as silver in her innocence, while other moments are dominated by sorrows and pains, casting her into the arms of solace and lamentation. She is akin to any soul or black ink on a white page. She may weep for a moment, only to be found sitting still the next, as if untouched by even a shred of sorrow. "As if no time had ever passed, when comfort lay solely in the impermanence of all things lasting forever." Of course, there is a particular solace and surrender that comes from allowing oneself not to cling, relinquishing things and memories, and persisting in life without resistance.

In the second part of the book, a crucial moment caught my attention—a turning point that distinctly separates two scenarios—that comes to light in the latter portion of the narrative. Initially, the author refers to frozen, cold elements destined to inevitably fade away, at time stinged with gloom, such as the day she accompanied her brother to place a box containing her mother's ashes into the sea. Gradually, however, the white elements take on a more cheerful and reassuring tone. For instance, when she mentions the moon and its white light that permeates every inch of her room and reflects on the white lace curtain that provides solace and tranquility when the boundary between sleep and wakefulness blurs. In this state, her dreams walk hand in hand with her memories, anchored in a warm cloud of her essence. Then, the magnolia trees bloom, offering a lament for the students and symbolizing an extension of life after death. They become a memory for them and a reminder that life can triumph over death.

Anticipating the future, we find life after death, spring following the frost, and the soul pulsating after stillness. Though survival seems impossible, we persist in the presence of the void, renewing its lamentations. While it's easier said than done, the endeavor is well worth the resistance and progress. The writer envisions her sister finding solace in the acceptance of loss and abandonment, understanding that"at some point, she will inevitably leave me." Nothing remains permanent in her perception. Even a moon-shaped rice cake can muster a pale smile despite the pain. The passage that caught my attention emphasizes that a"white laugh" lacks true joy, its tranquility easily disrupted, and its possessor's mood quickly soured. Even the attributes associated with white are fleeting. Yet, when you manage a white laugh, "you are a person who has succeeded in smiling through silent suffering, battling an internal conflict."

The author, Han Kang, discovered her answer in the final part, "All the Whiteness." The narrator stated, "When Ilooked through your eyes, I saw differently. When I walked through your body, Iwalked differently." She endeavored to merge her sister's essence with her own life, seeking distinct traits, and shared experiences for both of them.This endeavor aimed to embrace dual roles in two contrasting worlds: one characterized by purity and the other by harsh solitude. Yet, just like the enduring nature of white, achieving this balance proved to be elusive.

Instead, she explored all conceivable scenarios. What if they were city dwellers instead of living in the countryside? What if the ambulance had arrived in time to save her sister? What if the baby had grownup? What if "Wanni" had been there to care for her, sharing two lives instead of one, lending her dresses, and assisting with household affairs...What if?

But fate ordained that "Wanni's" cloth would become a shroud, and her white swaddle would transform into a casket. Suddenly,we find the author, Han Kang, returning to her present in two situations:gazing at her baby in his slumber and attending her brother's pre-wedding ceremony. Though she may not have been fortunate enough to be the younger sister of "Wanni," the grief she endured did not hinder her from fulfilling her role as "Noona" for her little brother.

"Don't die; live.” The author wished for white tobe not just a symbol of transience but also a hue akin to her—a color with dual roles, embodying a life with two souls. "Inside that white, within all those white things, I will draw the last breath you exhaled." Thus, white was chosen for its versatile association with renewal and demise, representing life and death simultaneously. Within her soul resides a love for life and comforting strength akin to white.