Even death wouldn't be too much to bear if it meant my husband was allowed to join the Party...
-- Myung-ok (Record of a Defection paragraph 2)

Importance: This quote from Myung-ok occurs after she notes her discomfort with the Party official visiting her at home while Il-cheol is out. Deep down, she knows the Party official's behavior is inappropriate, but as she says, she would die to enhance her husband's standing in the Party.

Even if the father had committed such a heinous crime, that it really did warrant his death, what kind of crime could belong to his sons, that had been mere children at the time?
-- Myung-ok (Record of a Defection paragraph 3)

Importance: Myung-ok notes the injustice in the Party's treatment of her husband and his family. Il-cheol's father was executed as a traitor, and the stain from this event continues to affect his sons (and will affect their sons). In Il-cheol's official Party file, he is labeled a "hostile element" due to...