What is Squid Game?
Squid Game is played by Korean kids in group, which means two teams are divided called 'Offenders' and 'Defenders'. A big square triangle and circle combined diagram is drawn in the playground to play this game. Offenders have to reach the other end and return to win. Defenders will stand in the center of the diagram to stop them to cross/return, while they can also push the other team players out of the box to win.
Squid Game-SERIES
The series Squid Game was released on Netflix, which I watched recently. It totally has 9 Episodes in which lives of different kind of people are piled. People who suffer their normal life gets chance to play this game. If they play and win the game, they will be rewarded with the ransom money by which they could get out of their problems. The organizer of this game strictly follows some principles for the games.
There is always question in my mind that why people are giving chances to someone who already live well and have lots of options. Chances should be given to somebody who are not given chances by others, who are really desperate for that. But this series made sense by giving opportunity to those who really needs it to change their lives.
The other rule I like is, there are no difference or inequality between the players. There is no gender discrimination, age, race, color, creed, region, religion, caste, origin differences. This way it is played fairly. They were all given the same set of costumes. This shows they are all equal.
This is just one violent game. No one could escape from the game or leave that place. But if the majority people agree to discontinue the game, they could be sent out. The disadvantage of discontinuation was they could not get that money. Again, they kept the door open for those, who wish to play it again because they didn’t want to steal the opportunities for the poor people. This is what I also liked in the series. They never forced any of them to come and play.
Characters
There are many characters in this series which plays important role even if they come and show up for a small-time on the screen.
GI-HUN, Player 456
The main male lead is GI-HUN, he lived with his old mother, who had severe diabetics which should to be treated by getting surgery. He needs to make a huge sum of money for her medication. GI-HUN is a divorced Father for a 10-Year-old daughter who is going to leave America with her mother and stepfather. To get her back, he has to prove that he can financially take care of her. The creditors of his debt used to chase and beat him for their money. When his wife was admitted in the hospital for her delivery, he couldn’t move out of his premises. His wife blamed him for not being there for her at the time of their daughter’s birth. She then married another man and having a son with whom she was living her life happily with the new family. Whereas, he begged his ex-wife to lend money for his mother’s surgery. I thought he is too innocent but when tried to cheat the old man, IL-NAM for a game, I changed my opinion. Again, he changed to good character when he argued with SANG-WOO for pushing an innocent man down the bridge in a game. He was even ready to kill him by joining hands with SAE BYEOK, when all the three were having knife with them. He wanted to share money with her and leave that place together. At last, he had to fight against one-on-one with SANG-WOO and was willing to terminate the game asking him to agree with him. They came a long way struggling, but he made decision to give up that much of money and wants to save his friend. He was the one who finally stood still to get the prize money all himself. He found his dead mother at his house post the game.
SANG-WOO, Player 218
SANG-WOO is the second male lead character who had lost his money and his mother’s property wants to participate in the game. He is GI-HUN’s childhood friend, they were from the same town. Sang woo was considered as the pride of the town as she got graduated from the famous Seoul University. Nobody knows what was his real situation. He hides from the police and lived for the financial crimes he has done. At the first he had been really a gentle man who helped Ali giving bus fare to get back home so that he won’t have to walk all the way. But during the game he had turned merciless. Example: Ali didn’t know how to play the marbles game, Sang woo taught him that. But when he learned that he cannot win against Ali, he really cheated him to get marbles from him. The one who have all the marbles is the winner. He gave him a bag of stones instead of marbles. Ali then would be killed by guards instead of SANG-WOO. They have shown the two shades- positive and negative in a (Sang woo) single person’s character. At last, he had killed SAE BYE-OK, when she was sick and not able to move or fight back. We cannot blame any players, as everyone wished to win and leave that hell with the prize money. Even innocent ones were also changing like animal in a fear of losing the game(life). After all, everyone has their family to look after.
SAE BYE-OK, Player 067
The main female lead’s name is SAE BYE-OK, she came from North Korea to South Korea with the intention of living a peaceful life with her family. Her father was killed while crossing the border; her mother was caught and sent back to China. She kept losing her money to a fraud broker, whom she approached to get her mother back. SAE BYE-OK’s 10-year-old brother was left at a Children’s Home, to whom she had promised that she will take him once a house is bought for them to live, and she would also bring their mother. I think she is the strongest character in the entire show. She was homeless and like a refugee he had to live being separated from her family. She is so tough like a boy and in the whole drama, only she cried when another girl sacrificed intentionally her life for SAE BYE-OK. Unfortunately, she was already bleeding to death as a piece of glass struck in her stomach while playing the game. It was hurting her all the time, she didn’t open her mouth about that to anyone. When GI-HUN came to know about that, he wanted to save her life and asked the guards to help her. Somehow, she was killed, and he fought with SANG WOO for killing her. Before her death, she asked GI-HUN to promise that he would take care of her little brother. Although he didn’t make her any promises like that, he did as she asked and leave him under the care of SANG WOO's mother.
Another young woman who entered this game, as she had no place to go. She recently released from the prison. Her crime was killing her father. He was a pastor who did so many sins and ask for apologies to God whenever he prayed. He used to torture his wife and daughter. Not able to bear it anymore, she killed her father, after he killed her mother with a knife. She told her story once to SAE BYE-OK. She couldn’t mingle with any of the players inside and sat alone. When players were asked to form a group with 10 members, SAE BYE-OK came and to ask her to join the group. As a result, they play together as partners, later they found themselves as competitors in a game unexpectedly, like Ali and Sang woo. Before they begin their game, they heard out each other’s story. She said that she has no reason to live, whereas SAE BYE-OK has reasons to live. So, she sacrificed her life by intentionally playing ineffectively. She merely made me cry in her last-minutes. Before she died, thanked her partner for playing with her. She was a girl who died with a smile and left behind the others to cry for her. Even the tough SAE BYE-OK cried for her and asked her to play again properly. It was such a game which made friends to stand against each other.
Abdul Ali, Player 199
Abdul Ali came from Pakistan to Korea for his work in a factory, where he is not given his salary. He has been tolerating that with patience. One day, he asked his employer to pay the money he owes him. Since, the employer refused to give his salary, Ali took a sum of money from his table and ran away. He sends his wife and a year-old son back to Pakistan and decides to take part in the game. His whole family lives in Pakistan. This character also made me cry at his last moment. We know how worse migrant workers are treated in some countries. When the whole family lives in another country, it is literally painful to live away from them. To make money and run the family he had to come a long way here, live in the hell and tolerate all the tortures. He was so innocent to believe someone blindly, who he met newly. When they were all asked to pick a partner, they have forgotten to think what if they are about to play against their partner. In some games, we have to compete with our own partner. In this case, the one who lost the game will be killed. Only after picking a partner, they were explained what the game was going to be and they both were going to play against each other. Sang woo proposed Ali to be his partner and taught him how to play
Oh IL-NAM, Player 001
IL-NAM was the eldest player among all, he was the first player too. He had a tumor in his head. To have fun and to recollect his childhood memories, he wanted to play the game. He slowly had become closer to GI-HUN and shared about his family. Everyone who had watched this show would pity him, because he was such an old man who becomes sick in between the game, who gets scared when all the players fight and kill each other. He was such a typical old man. Other players refused to play with him, thinking that he is old enough to play, and they would lose if they play with him. GI-HUN protected him and accompanied him in the games in the most of the time. But when he had no other option, GI-HUN was put into a situation where he had to cheat IL-NAM. He also made the audience to feel it heavy when he sacrificed himself for GI-HUN. Moreover, they looked like a father and son. I wonder whether I am the only one who felt it that way. Because of his intelligence and experience, everyone survived for some more time. They followed his tricks and Sang woo’s last-minute idea. It was literally an interesting part in the series for me. They felt weak with the elderly and women, but still they all made it together in a game that nobody could have expected.
We have unseen side of IL-NAM yet. Yes, we have a lot to see from this character. He played like a child even after realizing it was a horrific game which leads to their if they lose. He had dementia, suddenly he would stop and walk away from the game. Sometimes he had lost his memory in the middle of the game, GI-HUN had been convincing him to play with him otherwise both of them might be dead. IL-NAM is half player and half game organizer. His real face had been disclosed at the final episode in the climax session. The reason why he did all these was because “Fun”. It seems he had been a great businessman for whom everything became boring later. There was nothing new and fun for him and clients, so they made a plan to conduct the games, whichever he played in his childhood just for fun. Since 1988, they had been conducting these kinds of games. Each year they picked up players and made them play. Those who made it till the last game is considered as winner, they will be given the prize money and others who lost to him/her would be shot dead. This year IL-NAM played along with the real players saying, that it won’t be fun anymore watching them play rather playing would be more interesting for him. These reasons made GI-HUN angry to kill him, but finally the old man died himself as a matter of aging and his tumor.
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