Evening Star follows a young protagonist named Chun as he and his friends try to make the leap from adolescence to young adulthood without any certainty of what they want from life. The novel shines a light on the anxieties shared by Korea’s young generation during the mid-1960s. Afflicted by an absence of ambition and an unknown future, the generation described by Hwang doesn’t know which direction to take, or where to discover its identity, a dilemma which Chun clearly expresses at the beginning of the novel when he says, “I don’t know who I am.”

A Story of Self-discovery

Having decided to leave school to discover himself, Chun travels throughout the Korean countryside with his friend, Inho. Chun narrates most of the story, and through him, the readers discover the different parts of Korea and its people, witnessing at the same time his feelings of disorientation and alienation. Along their journey, the two friends are warmly welcomed by local farmers and laborers, showing the generosity of the working class in the areas they travel through. In this way, Chun becomes a figure not unlike Ibn Battuta, the fourteenth-century Moroccan traveler, historian and scholar who famously wrote about his explorations of cities around the world.

Alongside attempts to discover himself and decide his future, Chun tells the stories of his friends and acquaintances. These stories take over the main narrative from time to time, alternating the narration between Chun and his friends. Each chapter thus frames events from a different point of view giving the novel a rounded quality. Chun and Inho’s friendship is reminiscent of the two protagonists in Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet: a four-novel series which comments on life in Naples, conveying the characteristics and thought processes of the city’s people.

Despite the comfort that Chun finds in the security of this friendship, readers find that he is deeply troubled by a lack of purpose and that he fears for his future. His pessimism eventually leads to a suicide attempt – and while the attempt fails, his morale is left crushed and scattered. “Where do I go from here? Where can I find the ruins of my former self, my ghost?”

Death Defeats Love

In fact, as readers discover, death is a subject that dominates the novel’s characters and narrative space. In addition to Chun’s attempt to take his own life, readers witness the death of his father and a friend. Furthermore, right from the start of the novel, Chun is determined to take part in the Vietnam War – a path leading to certain death.

Chun and his peers have a tragic perspective on war and dying: as if the weight of death erases any hopes they have for the future, leaving them void of love in the process. Moreover, the reader notices the absence of love stories in the novel, not even mere accounts of mutual attraction between characters. What readers encounter are simply lost bodies trying to escape the hopeless present in the face of an unknown future.

As the characters try to free themselves from society’s constraints, the readers bear witness to their struggles and fruitless attempts to stray from the herd, leaving them adrift in a state of poverty that leads Chun to declare: “I don’t like my life.” This statement distills the very essence of the novel. It summarizes the defeated existence of the young characters, unable to withstand their anxiety and equally unable to break free from it. In so doing, it asserts why their journey of self-discovery is so imperative.

Through Writing Comes Salvation

Evening Star gives readers an authentic depiction of the good and bad in Korean society, exploring family, friendship, kindness, and loyalty. Hwang doesn’t only cover the joyful side of life, but also addresses the concerns of a young generation that wants to know what its future holds. He conveys their desire to break free from the present, their inability to change reality; he also explores the hurdles of poverty and the journey of self-discovery.

In an unexpected turn, writing itself becomes the characters’ salvation. When Chun and his friends begin writing poetry and prose, it becomes their shield against life’s difficulties. Thus, in Evening Star, literature is a lifeline of hope. Hwang’s message to his readers is that literature and writing can save us from the burdens of reality. When Chun says, “Finally, I feel like I’m part of something! Does this mean I’m a writer?”, it becomes a sign that the act of writing has freed the characters, helping them to discover a sense of self. Writing protected them; it became their guiding star, leading them back to the shores of safety.