The Orphan Master S Son by Adam Johnson Discussion Questions

The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson Discussion questions

1. The Orphan Master’s Son is disjointed as it shifts perspective, time periods, and even genres. Did you find the structure confusing? The author has described his book as a “trauma narrative.” How do you interpret that term? Does it suitably describes the novel, and if so, in what ways? 2. What makes Pak Jun Do believe he is the son of the Orphan Master? Is he right? How does a child become an orphan, what are they used for, and why are they despised by North Koreans? 3. What is the thematic significance of the Americans mistaking Jun Do’s name for “John Doe”? What does the appellation John Doe mean to Americans? What does it suggest about Jun Do himself, as well as the millions of people who live under the North Korean flag? 4. How would you describe life in North Korea for its citizens? What do you find most horrifying about the way in which Adam Johnson portrays that society? 5. What do you make of the various characters who express their horror at life in America and Americans’ “lack of protection” by their own government? Why would North Koreans prefer their life to that of Americans? Is there any basis for their criticisms of life in the U.S.? 6. In his days on tunnel patrol, Jun Do thinks to himself, “Never use your imagination. The darkness inside your head is something your imagination fills with stories that have nothing to do with the real darkness around you.” How is this statement a thematic concern throughout the novel? What does it mean for individuals to be told not to use their imagination? What does it mean for art, music, and literature? 7. What is the symbolic significance of Jun Do’s radio work and the fact he does it at night? Why does he miss the Junma, the captain, and his radio after he becomes a “hero” and leaves the ship? 8. Jun Do tells the Second Mate's wife that he can no longer distinguish dream from reality and does not know if the Second Mate was devoured by sharks or floated away on a raft with only a radio. The wife tells Jun Do to “choose the beautiful story.” Is he telling his own story or that of the Second Mate? 9. Dr. Song says to Jun Do, “Where we are from, stories are factual. If a farmer is declared a music virtuoso by the state, everyone had better start calling him maestro. And secretly, he’d be wise to start practicing the piano. For us, the story is more important than the person. If a man and his story are in conflict, it is the man who must change.” What does this mean in the context of the novel? 10. How do the first part of the novel, “The Biography of Jun Do,” and the second, “The Confessions of Commander Ga,” differ? Does the second half seem far-fetched to you after the grim reality of the first half? Does it matter? 11. How do the propaganda chapters, written as if spoken from a loudspeaker, play into the reading of the novel? What does the first-person narrative of the unnamed interrogator contribute to the story? 12. Even though Kim Jong Il is offstage more often than not, he is ever present in the lives of the characters. How is the “Dear Leader” portrayed in this novel? Does the author lend him psychological depth or is he a cartoonish, one-dimensional villain? Were you surprised by his portrayal? 13. In a poignant and powerful moment, the unnamed interrogator remembers the way his father explained life in North Korea: “Even if we walked this path side by side, he said, we must act alone on the outside, while on the inside, we would be holding hands.” What does this quote imply about the reality of living in such a repressive society? How does it speak to humanness in the face of inhumanity? 14. How are women treated in North Korea? What actually happens to beautiful young women who are born in the provinces? 15. What is Sun Moon’s role in the story? What does she represent to Jun Do, Kim Jong Il, and the people of North Korea? How does she view herself? 16. How is Jun Do transformed from the beginning of the novel to the end? How does his physical journey influence his emotional one? Is he a hero? Are any other characters heroic or admirable? 17. One critic described The Orphan Master’s Son as “darkly comedic,” and another as, at times, “ridiculously funny.” How do you feel about the use of comedy in conjunction with the brutality of the novel? Were you disturbed by the author’s use of humor to convey the grim horrors of life under the regime? Or does it serve a purpose? 18. Reviewers have drawn comparisons between The Orphan Master’s Son and classic dystopian novels such as Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Are these apt comparisons? Does this novel, which is based on an actual country and government, have a different impact from that of novels which take place in invented worlds? 19. This novel has been characterized as a thriller, a love story, and a political dystopia. How would you classify the novel? How do these genres manifest themselves?

About the author

Adam Johnson was born in South Dakota in 1967 and raised in Arizona. He earned a BA in Journalism from Arizona State University in 1992, an MFA from the writing program at McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana in 1996, and a PhD in English from Florida State University in 2000. He is Associate Professor of English with an emphasis in creative writing at Stanford University, where he founded the Stanford Graphic Novel Project.

Johnson’s work has appeared in Esquire, Harper's, Playboy, GQ, Paris Review, Granta, Tin House, The New York Times, and Best American Short Stories. He is the author of the short story collection Emporium (2002) and the novel Parasites Like Us (2003, winner of a California Book Award), as well as the novel The Orphan Master's Son (2012), which won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in fiction. His books have been translated into 23 languages. He was a 2010 National Endowment for the Arts Fellow and was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for 2013-14. He has also received a Whiting Writers’ Award, a Swarthout Writing Award, the Gina Berriault Literary Award, a Kingsbury Fellowship, and a Stegner Fellowship.