The chapters of “Your Paradise” from p. 143 to p. 215 introduce several topics: the role of sports in a society of leper people and the activities of the director Shŭ and his “shadow” Satō as well as their impact on the islanders and the future of the island in general. From these pages, it becomes clear why so many people on the island cannot trust a new director Cho and believe in his true intentions to create a paradise for the patients and the staff. The example demonstrated by Shŭ and Satō was still fresh in their memories: they cannot even think about some possible improvements and a better future on the island. However, Cho does not want to leave his dream and tries to do everything possible to achieve the goal set and create the paradise for people, who survived leprosy. One of his first attempts and the brightest moments of the reading is the creations of a soccer team. Cho admits that “this place is not an island for living.
There is no a single living person walking around. Everyone is a ghost… Let’s give these footless ghosts a chance to walk on the ground themselves.” (Yi 146). The council members and Sanguk cannot believe in the success of the idea. They cannot understand how people without toes and fingers can kick a ball. Still, the results amaze everyone on the island: “a sports tournament is a device used in forming group identity, overcoming individual differences and trivial confrontations between people” (Yi 192). Now, five thousand people on the island become one team with one goal – to support soccer. In addition, the reader gets to know more about the creation of the statute under the rule of Shŭ and Satō, the reasons of their failure, the past of Sanguk’s parents, and future plans of Cho to “recover land from the sea” (Yi 195). The main idea offered is that the paradise is not the result, but the process that has to unite people at any cost.
What is the role of soccer on the island?
The answer to this question will demonstrate how attentive the reader is and how he/she understands Cho’s intentions. It is not enough to say that a soccer team unites the islanders. The impact of this game is more crucial as it changes the attitude to Cho and his ideas. There are many people, who start believing that Cho’s intentions to create a paradise on the island of the dead can become a reality.
How do Shŭ’s ambitions lead him to his failure?
In the answer to this question, the name of Satō should be mentioned. The reader demonstrates his/her understanding of the text only in case if the relations between Shŭ and Satō will be described. These two people make the first attempt to create a paradise on the island. Still, their positions and ideals turn out to be corrupted and wrong in regards to sick people, who believe in them most of all.
What do Cho’s words that “paradise wasn’t the result; it was something that could be felt inside or attained in the process” (Yi 202) actually mean?
The answer to this question should make the reader share his/her personal understanding of the idea and the text in general. On these pages, the author describes how the implementation of one process can change people and their attitude to the things around. Though it is far from the creation of a paradise, it is still one step that makes people closer to it.
Works Cited
Yi, Ch’ŏngjum. Your Paradise. København & Los Angeles, CA: Green Integer, 2004. Print.