[One Thousand Characters a Day] Books Going to Work <3> - The Desire to Be Recognized

Editor's NotePart 3 of ＜Books for Commuting＞ introduces books that discuss the desire for recognition. The author says that the aphorisms in ＜Meditations＞ gave them the courage to muster all their strength when responding at work. ＜Why Do I Keep Laughing When Trying to Comfort＞ helped them view their gloomy mind from a new perspective, and after reading ＜The Red and the Black＞, they developed a mindset that is not intimidated by any professional or class division. Word count: 1122 characters.

Humans within a class system based on contempt and disdain for others are always prone to insult, humiliation, and abuse, and their mentality is fragile. They are vulnerable and sensitive to others' eyes. Including the 0.01% upper class who indulge in pleasure amid a life of dull boredom, the majority tremble in fear of being despised within the compartmentalized class chart, living off the pride and arrogance felt from despising others.

The term "class," meaning a group of people sharing the same characteristics, requires distinctions and differences as needed, but how does a human face change within a system that ranks and orders? ＜The Red and the Black＞ is a novel that continuously poses this uncomfortable question.

Even today, people wearing "class-colored glasses" are everywhere. The chilling remark directed at manual laborers, "If you don't study, you'll end up like that," originates from these glasses. The same applies to those who, even within the same occupation, further divide ranks based on company size or brand value. Perhaps society, the system, institutions, and culture still impose and indoctrinate us with these archaic class-colored glasses. The more saturated these glasses are, the more we evaluate others based on their jobs, dividing superiority and inferiority to disdain them. Conversely, someone may revere another simply because of their occupation. And the gaze of that class is easily mimicked and spread, manifesting as someone's ambition.

Imagine the face of a person sprinting full force to achieve an S-grade on the class chart, living a life where climbing ranks is their sole lifelong goal. This becomes the source of success, honor, and ambition. The higher the class, the more status one gains. Sometimes, that desire is beautiful?a healthy ambition and the vitality for a lively life. But occasionally, the class-colored glasses seemingly worn by such people are not enviable at all. Those glasses rather weigh down the person's inner self. The longer they wear the glasses, the narrower their vision becomes, their gaze disintegrates, and they inevitably live as slaves to the names, status, and rank bestowed by class.

So when those ugly people still wearing "class-colored glasses" arbitrarily judge my work, and even I automatically put on those glasses, I think of Julien. I want to appropriate that noble and keen soul and spirit who neither wanted to be despised nor wanted to despise others.

- Gu Chae-eun, ＜Books for Commuting＞, Pajit, 16,800 KRW

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.