(Korean: 날개) is a cornerstone of Korean modernism, written by the avant-garde author Yi Sang in 1936 during the Japanese occupation. This novella is widely regarded as one of the most influential works of psychological and intellectual literature from the 1930s, exploring themes of alienation, self-consciousness, and the destruction of the ego. Plot Summary: A Life in Shadows
: He eventually realizes his wife is a prostitute. He also discovers that the pills she has been giving him, which she claimed were "aspirin," are actually Adalin , a hypnotic sedative used to keep him in a drug-induced stupor.
Yi Sang’s work is famously complex, blending and Dadaism to reflect the fragmented reality of colonial Korea.
: To pass the time, he engages in repetitive, infantile activities like smelling his wife’s cosmetics, playing with her handheld mirror, or burning her toilet paper with a magnifying glass.
