In Land of Exile, Ch’on Mansok’s wife, Chomnye, uses her sexuality as a reclamation of power. Though the narrative focuses mainly on Mansok’s power struggles, his past shines a light on women’s experiences of resentment as well. Chomnye, having the same “low-class status” as Mansok, is equally as oppressed as he is by society — perhaps even more so for being a woman (229).
Throughout the narrative, Mansok gets himself in trouble for not taming his anger. His mother calls him “tiger bait,” and his father says his “blood’s too hot for a commoner”. His entire family’s possessions are thrown into the river because he beats up the Ch’oe kids, who misunderstood his good intentions and hit him first (240). Though he is not in the wrong, the only way to protect himself from extreme consequences would be to hold his tongue and bear the humiliation (which he does not do). Anger and rebellion are privileges reserved for those with power. Thus, when he joins the People’s Liberation Army, he becomes a ruthless executioner of his oppressors.
Similarly, Chomye, “as head of the Alliance of Democratic Women, was wielding power just like” Mansok (243–244). Her face is seen as “so pretty as to be wasted on” her status — she is treated as an object to be admired, which Mansok marries “as if it were something unavoidable” (229). Though we do not know how she feels about the marriage, one can infer that she felt pressured by Confucian notions of virtue, Mansok’s valiant efforts, and his controlling and domineering personality (222, Hall). By sleeping with the commander, she subverts society’s expectations of her to have her eyes “demurely lowered” (244). In this act of rebellion against her husband, she reclaims power and autonomy by acting on her own desires and not those which society dictates. Her adultery can be seen as an act of power and rebellion for one has been powerless for their whole life.