Summary

Not long after Ishikawa starts his job as a tractor driver, the family gets the news that his grandmother in Japan has passed away. Two years later in 1968, their village becomes occupied by the military and is turned into their garrison. The soldiers force Ishikawa's family and several others to move to a neighboring village but the military's presence is strong there too. The behavior of the soldiers "was positively criminal" (60). They stole food, livestock, and farm equipment from the village, seduced young women, and beat villagers severely "for no reason" (61). Ishikawa and his family live in a freezing tumbledown house that can barely keep out the rain sleep fitfully on the floor near the stove, all while being terrorized by the soldiers.

During this time, Ishikawa falls in love with a young woman named Rim Su-yon who agrees to marry him. However, her...