[Joseonggwan's Global Humanities Journey] "Karma Never Forgets Its Exact Address"

The movie series ‘John Wick’ reeks of bloodshed. Although it depicts the ruthless world of killers, one might wonder if it is really necessary to make a film to this extent. It seems difficult to watch the entire movie unless you are Keanu Reeves.

In ‘John Wick 4,’ the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe in Paris serve as major backdrops, and Berlin and Osaka also appear. Koji (played by Shinada Hiroyuki), the general manager of the Osaka Continental Hotel, speaks to his old friend John Wick, who is rushing toward death like a moth to a flame.

“A good death only comes after a good life.”

John Wick replies,

“You and I left a good life behind a long time ago.”

Though exchanged briefly in passing, this dialogue throws a weighty question about life. It is about human karma.

The movie ‘Road to Perdition’ is a crime drama centered on karma. Among many lines in the film, if one were to choose a single line that encapsulates the theme, it would undoubtedly be the following:

“Karma never loses an address.”

The film is set in 1930s America, during the Prohibition era, the heyday of the mafia. The protagonist, who was taken in as the mafia boss’s adopted son, does not hesitate to kill for the organization. He cannot bring himself to tell his two sons about his profession. One day, the boss’s biological son’s wife and child are murdered. The movie then unfolds the story that follows.

The phrase “Karma never loses an address” is different but similar expressions appear in the Bible. The biblical saying “What goes around comes around” is one example. The Sunday pastor’s sermon that “If you believe in Jesus, you will be saved and go to heaven” is ultimately about karma. In Buddhism, there is also a saying: “Cause and effect may have a time lag, but there is no margin of error.”

What is a good death? The answer to this question must start with defining what a good life is. When a person passes away, if the good deeds or achievements they performed during their lifetime are remembered, it can be said that they lived a good life.

The protagonist of Charles Dickens’s classic ‘A Christmas Carol’ is Ebenezer Scrooge. The cold-blooded Scrooge, devoid of blood and tears! There are countless anecdotes showing how cruel he was to his neighbors. But I think the most striking part is where even dogs lower their tails and avoid Scrooge when he appears from afar. At first, it makes you laugh, but it leaves a bitter aftertaste that lingers. Dogs have an uncanny ability to recognize people who like them. Scrooge must have been so mean that even voiceless animals behaved that way.

On Christmas Eve, Scrooge meets three ghosts. The first ghost shows him his childhood, the second his present, and the last his future after death. At the house the third ghost takes him to, a couple talks about someone’s death. Not a single word expresses sorrow or says the deceased was a good person. Instead, they mock that he died well. Scrooge visits the graveyard and realizes that the deceased is his own future self, which shocks him deeply.

An illustration of a scene from Charles Dickens' novel A Christmas Carol, depicting Scrooge meeting the Ghost of Marley.

Everyone fears death. When someone says, “I am not afraid of dying,” it actually means they do fear death. German playwright Bertolt Brecht left this quote:

“One should fear a shameful life more than death.”

The message of ‘A Christmas Carol’ is that Scrooge, after seeing his ‘shameful life’ in advance, reforms and lives a new life. The message of Dostoevsky’s ‘The Brothers Karamazov’ is similar: how ugly a person can become when they abandon their conscience.

Death has two aspects: death from the perspective of the deceased and death from the perspective of the bereaved. First, consider the death of parents from the bereaved’s point of view. The bereaved hope that the parents pass away without suffering but also wish to go through the ‘rituals of death’ with their children. They want to see their children’s faces and grandchildren... This hope is summed up in the expression 9988234: living vigorously until ninety-nine, being ill for two days, and dying on the third.

However, those who are dying may feel differently. They might not want the ‘rituals of death.’ Such rituals inevitably involve pain. Feeling and enduring pain is entirely the responsibility of the dying person. No one else can take it on. The late mother often told her youngest son, “I want to die without pain.”

Indeed, the wish of all elderly people in this world converges into one: to die without pain. To cross over to the world of the deceased without feeling pain or even realizing death. Dying painlessly is a happy death and a good death. That is why dying in one’s sleep is called a heavenly blessing.

Charlie Chaplin passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home in Switzerland on December 25, 1977. Having lived a long life, how did Chaplin enjoy such a heavenly blessing until the moment of death? I believe it was God’s minimal token of gratitude to Chaplin, who made the world laugh.

Returning to the starting point: what is a good life?

Once again, we must call upon Charles Dickens. Dickens’s 1861 work ‘Great Expectations’ was made into a silent film in 1917 and later into animations. To date, ‘Great Expectations’ has been adapted into film 18 times. Why? Because even after more than 160 years, the message it conveys is not in the past perfect tense but in the present continuous tense.

The character to focus on in ‘Great Expectations’ is Joe Gargery. He contrasts with Philip Pip, who, enamored with the world of gentlemen, tries to imitate them. Joe Gargery is the husband of Pip’s sister and a straightforward commoner who lives his life as a diligent blacksmith. When Pip, once successful in the London gentleman’s world, falls into ruin and comes to him, Joe silently accepts and helps him.

Winter Mountain Scenery
Photo by Seonggwan Jo

Dickens says that a well-lived life is one where a person finds work suited to their aptitude and faithfully fulfills their duties. Pablo Picasso put it a bit more elegantly: “The meaning of life is to discover your talent, and the purpose of life is to use that talent to help improve someone else’s life.”

Living life teaches us that faithfully fulfilling one’s duties is no easy task. Doing what one is supposed to do according to one’s role. Firefighters are people who go up the stairs that others come down. Their duty is to climb the stairway against the flow. What would happen if firefighters did not climb smoke-filled stairs?

A society functions normally thanks to people who are faithful to their roles in each part of society. Merchants fulfill the duties of merchants, public officials those of public officials, professors those of professors, police officers those of police officers, journalists those of journalists, prosecutors those of prosecutors, engineers those of engineers... When people forget their roles, individuals become unhappy and society falls into chaos.

Poet Lee Hyung-gi’s poem ‘Falling Flowers’ is often recited: “Knowing clearly when it is time to go / How beautiful is the back of one / Who leaves at the right time...”

What does it mean to live well in this one and only life? Whenever I see a winter mountain that has shed all the summer’s passion, I ask myself. Perhaps it is an attitude of doing one’s best in the most valuable and meaningful work now, remembering ‘Memento Mori.’

By Jo Seong-gwan, writer and genius researcher

Operator of ‘Genius Table,’ former editor-in-chief of Weekly Chosun

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