강신재 | Kang Sin-jae

Like several of the other stories throughout this research, the co-occurrence network in the figure above, specifically in subgraph 10, demonstrates the connections between the main character and existing within a space. Subgraph one, the largest cluster for “The Mist,” demonstrates the physicality and work of the language utilized, creating a dynamic that manifests in this visual example. Subgraphs two and three are examples of the notion of work and the home, showing Seonghye’s desire to create a writing career, as well as how other people can come to and from the home, but not her. 

Through KH Coder’s co-occurrence graph, this shows the direct link between three different words within their own subgraph: “writing,” “hate,” and “try.” These words are connected by coefficients of 0.12, 0.12, and 0.20 respectively. However, the arrangement of these connections offers another interpretation: while “writing” and “hate” are connected, “hate” is also tethered to “my.” The story, which was published in 1950, would most likely reflect the gender dynamics in which Seonghye would instead simply be expected to just be a housewife. 

The connection between “hate” and “my” could imply deeper tensions, one in which her husband wishes to reclaim his control within the household. He sees Seonghye pursuing a writing career, and being successful at it, as undermining his notions of masculinity. If his wife is successfully pursuing the career that he has been failing, he will do whatever it takes to ensure she will not continue. Although this piece was published not long after the colonial period, it echoes the expectations of women writers and how they were seen as inferior by their male literary counterparts. 

Like several short stories examined throughout the research process, the verb “work” appears within its own subgraph in the co-occurrence network. Here, it appears attached to “bring” (coefficient: 0.18), “boy” (coefficient: 0.14), and “come” (coefficient: 0.12). However, unlike the other stories, this connection between “work” is subverted, showing that “work” is associated with young boys working for other people. This suggests when Seonghye is outside her writing world as a housewife, her life is quiet. 

On a different subgraph, three other words are connected: “become,” “more” (coefficient: 0.12), and “job” (coefficient: 0.12). With the context of the story’s narrative arc, this becomes clearer: Seonghye brings up getting a job, but her husband’s pride rejects the idea of his wife working outside their home. At one point in the story, she even contemplates how she could keep herself busy within the home, implying that she really wants to do something and contribute to their finances. 

However, it becomes more evident that Seonghye is an ambitious woman, as seen by the fact she was willing to submit to a literary magazine in the first place. But because she is stuck inside the home, which appears in its own subgraph with “day,” she becomes a victim of her circumstances. Perhaps if this short story had been written thirty years prior, taking on the thematic notes of Na Hye-seok or Kim Won-ju’s work, the main characters would have realized the impacts of the husband’s actions and actively resisted his expectations. But throughout the story, she remains silent. Again, this manifests with the connections between the words “silent,” “remain,” and “seat.” These are linked by coefficients of 0.33 and 0.22. “Remained” appears throughout the text seven times, and in six of those seven occurrences, it is associated with Seonghye not responding to someone else. 

As her husband smokes imported cigarettes, writes poems that would not see the same success as his wife’s writing, and finds himself bouncing from job to job, Seonghye will be stuck in stagnancy, unable to break free of the confines of what “home” provides for her. While she is serious about her writing, he is not. Yet, at the same time, he chastises her for the writing style she uses and acts as if he knows better about craft simply because he was born a man.