Lady Sougyon - Character and Narrator

Use this forum to discuss the January 2021 Book of the month, "The Vanished" by Pejay Bradley
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Deval Sodha
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Re: Lady Sougyon - Character and Narrator

Post by Deval Sodha »

Lady Sougyon was a victim of bad marriage and as the story says, women did not have any voice in that era. Sougyon did her best at that time that she could.
She was a smart, witty lady who showed courage and patience in her troubled times, when Embon was a child and when he fell sick.
I really admire her character a lot.
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Post by enna_idEsrun »

I admired Lady Sougyon character. Given the difficulties she suffered as a result of the gender inequalities of her culture, I thought that she bore her ill-fate with grace and class. Of course her status in society would have been an immense buffer to her unfortunate circumstances. I couldn't think of an instance where as a narrator Lady Sougyon was anything but honest and reliable.
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Post by Arite Seki »

I think as both a character and a narrator, she is strong. She provides a good perspective because she's from the upper class which are typically well off but she is also a woman in a miserable marriage, so we get to the world from that lens as well. As for her fate, I think she did do everything that she could to change it, given the society at the time.
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Post by Swirliegirlie »

I felt that as both a character and narrator Lady Sougyon was relatable. She was honest about her shameful marriage and the struggles of feeling outcast from other happily married couples. Her voice was only heard by the readers because she did act in accordance to Korean culture and not reveal her problems to those close to her. I did think it was great she was strong enough to hold a conversation with the King and even impress him with her views.
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Post by MsH2k »

As a narrator, she saw only the good in her son, and that affected a realistic portrayal of his shortcomings and his development. However, I had a soft spot for Lady Sougyon. I appreciated how she made the best of her situation. It must have been so difficult to remain married to her husband. Thankfully, her brother was a man of his word and cared for her. That was the only way her husband would not have gotten his hands on what was rightfully hers. Obviously, it would have been better for her if she could have gotten a divorce, but she was able to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle even though it was loveless. Perhaps she was more affected by the palza than Embon was.
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Post by Caroline Anne Richmond »

Lady Sougyon was a strong character for her time. Divorce was a disgrace on the family and she was left with little choice but to remain an abandoned wife and be directed by male figures in her family, often these figures the only ones who can provide money so she can keep her house and staff. However when it came to bringing up her son, she chose to do it her way, and stay away from strict Korean traditions and rules. She wanted the best of education for her son so that his life could contain more freedom than her own, for this reason I found her to be a foreword thinking character.
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Post by Ahbed Nadir »

I would say that while her attitude was a bit stand-offish and cold, I quite liked her and enjoyed her narration. A first person narration is always based off from the point of view of the individual and as such while her narration may have been colored by some undertones of arrogance as a result of her high position, it was still a very enjoyable experience to hear about her life.
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Post by Josephe-Anne »

I really like Lady Sougyon. She is my favorite character in the book. As a character, I think she did everything in her power to provide the best life for her son. She was an incredibly brave and strong woman to go against her traditional society to bring about change. Unlike most other aristocrats during that time, she actually paid her servants and treated them well.

As a narrator, she told the story from her perspective. So, in that way, it was biased towards her son, Embon, because she always saw the best in him.
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Post by nangel04 »

As a character, Lady Sougyon could have only changed her fate if she dishonored her family. She states that she begged her brother for a divorce (apparently divorce had to be approved by the male head of a family) and he denied her over and over again. So, legally, she could not separate herself from her unfaithful husband. The only possibility would have been to abandon her family altogether I suppose, but if that were even possible, I doubt it would have been easy. As a narrator, she gave me no reason to doubt her reliability.
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Post by lavkathleen »

I really don't get how people could think that Lady Sougyon wasn't a reliable and honest narrator. I honestly can't see it. I personally don't think it's possible. This isn't the kind of novel where the author is hinting that there's probably another side to this story, if only they used a different narrator. Like Gone Girl.
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Post by lavkathleen »

cd20 wrote: 02 Jan 2021, 19:21 I imagine divorce was really not very common during that time, especially in her position, but maybe she would have been much happier if she could have divorced her no-good husband and found someone else. Or at least have been free from him and the money he demanded from her. She is obviously a strong character for all that she goes through, and she shows tremendous strength. I think it is interesting to hear her voice and how the men around her has influenced her life, for better and worse. As far as we know, she seems to be honest and reliable, but she also may have a bias toward her son, sometimes we have blinders on with those we love the most.
Naturally, she would be biased towards her son. Do you that had an effect towards the storytelling, though? I felt like when people ask if the narrator was honest and reliable, it means that there was a problem with the storytelling. So I can't help but think that her bias towards her son affected the storytelling in a bad way.
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Post by Sushan Ekanayake »

I think that this is the fate of most of the women in Korea in that era. They were not listened to and they were not given much value, though their families were rich and privileged. So, I don't think that as a character she could do anything more.

Can we believe what she says? I actually don't know. We see only her side of the story since she is the only one to whom the author gives a voice. Others might have a different story to say from their ends
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Post by lavkathleen »

B Creech wrote: 03 Jan 2021, 07:28 I feel like she is a strong woman, however, she was suppressed by the men in her life, and by the time and society in which she lived. I found it interesting for her to have a voice to express her inner and outer turmoil. Being of royal descent during those times made it impossible for her to change her fate, in my opinion.
True. Also, divorce wasn't widely accepted during that time, too. I feel like my lungs is being stepped on just thinking about the layers of restrictions they put on women. The amount of strength and courage it would've taken them to get a divorce might be unimaginable for most of us.
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Post by lavkathleen »

Maddie Atkinson wrote: 03 Jan 2021, 14:06 I like that, as you said, she is the narrator of the book. We get to see her perspective that would otherwise have been silenced. Being able to see her point of view means you can see whether she truly had the option to change her fate. I don't think many narrators are truly reliable as they are giving their account only, so everything is from their point of view, but that doesn't mean that they are not honest, but rather recounting the events that they themselves saw, which isn't necessarily reliable or the right account. I hope that makes sense?
It makes sense! But also, I think when people ask whether a narrator was being reliable or not, they're actually asking whether the narration was done in a twisted way. Like Gone Girl. It gives more intrigue to the story, knowing that there's more to it they haven't shown. In this case, Lady Sougyon was reliable and honest. But I get what you mean and you're right. There must be some discrepancies, depending on who's telling the story.
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Post by lavkathleen »

Phelicia Gloria wrote: 03 Jan 2021, 23:18 Lady Sougyon was a strong woman, however her strength was never seen because the male dominated the society giving her hard time to show her capability. I think as a narrator she had the opportunity to change the society. That's my view.
I get what you're trying to say... but I think her strength was very visible, at least to readers, even in those circumstances. She raised her son alone. She was thoughtful about her family. She was a compassionate master to her servants. I agree, we could've seen her strength without her being oppressed because of her gender. But it doesn't mean we didn't see how she dealt with it.
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