Dystopian Societies Today

This news article gave me a grim realization that the dystopian worlds I read about in books actually exists in the world today. The concentration camp which Shin Dong Hyok spent most of his life in is very similar to that of Oceania and the One State, in We. Like in the dystopian novels we have read, Shin did not hate the people who were oppressing him, he did not know that bad things were bad, he was not permitted to have feelings, and the aspect of family was obsolete. These characteristics are very similar to the lives that D-503 and Winston face in their respective worlds. In their dystopian societies, the citizens, for the most part, love their rulers, they do not see the worth in feeling and rather prefer mathematical reasoning (especially in We), and the establishment of family does not exist. Shin Dong Hyok suffered a sort of Stockholm syndrome in the sense that he, although he did not necessarily enjoy the surroundings he was born into, he did not think he was being treated unfair. Not until he learns of the outside world, just like in We, does he start to yearn for the outside. Another similarity between the world he lived in and we was that to some extent, he wished he had not known of the outside world. “Shin said he sometimes wished he could return to the time before he learned about the greater world, “without knowing that we were in a prison camp, without knowing that there was a place called South Korea.”” This is so shocking. The fact that he was more content in a totalitarian world than the free one he is now makes me wonder if man actually likes to be controlled. If I was freed from such a hell, I imagine that I would rejoice and celebrate and finally live my life, but after reconsideration, especially after reading this, I do not if I would be able to be content with the power I had. It would be like me getting sent to a place which no one in the world knew about and told to do whatever I want. This example can’t even begin to brush on the extremity that Shin faced but it really makes me wonder.
Along with similarities to We this article has some similarities to 1984. In both worlds, the idea of marriage is not believed to be beneficial and couples are allowed to see each other only as “award marriages.” Also, there is a slogan similar to that in 1984. “Everyone obey the regulations.” The similarities between the dystopian worlds we have read about in novels and the one the Shin actually lived are extremely similar. It begs the question, was the concentration camp world Shin was living in, actually hindering him? Not until he learned of the outside world did he try to escape. It seems that either he was too weak both mentally and physically to try and escape, or that he was too scared and found no extreme grievance in the world he had. I am in no way saying that these North Korean concentration camps are at the slightest bit humane or worth any praise, but rather raising the question, what would you do if you woke up tomorrow and realized that the world that you called your own was merely a façade and that the truth laid miles away?