Mercy bears richer fruit than strict justice

Quiz 1. When a middle-aged woman with tangled hair and a flabby body stood on stage, the audience was unenthusiastic. When she started to sing, however, the crowd was wowed. Susan Boyle, a 40-something single woman, became a Cinderella at that moment. From what musical was the song she sang (“I Dreamed a Dream”)?

Quiz 2. Hugh Jackman was registered last week as the 2,487th actor on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In a movie that made its global debut in Korea Wednesday, he sang and performed without eating for 36 hours. What icon-of-hope role did he play?

The answer to the first question is "Les Miserables" and that of the second Jean Valjean. With the year coming to a close, Victor Hugo’s novel "Les Miserables" has become a sudden bestseller in both Korea and the world. Valjean spent 19 years in prison for stealing a piece of bread, and was pursued by Inspector Javert. Valjean was redeemed through the power of love, while Javert was obsessed with merciless justice and killed himself toward the end of the novel.

"The Things You Can See When You Finally Stop," an essay by the Buddhist monk Hyemin, spent its 32nd straight week on the bestseller list. On a TV program, he told about his life as a child, when he had to fight to go to the bathroom, because four families were living under one roof, saying, “The ordeals of life became a form of nourishment for understanding others.” Because of this reason, Valjean did an act of charity and love to Javert who had tortured him all his life as well as society that roughed him up.

The result of Korea`s presidential election has come out. The responsibility of choice should be borne by the people, and not just by the president. Will the public go the way of integration and respecting the values of others or just follow their own justice blindly? Each individual must choose values in the process of stitching up society that has been split, with one side feeling a relative deprivation. Abraham Lincoln led a divided U.S. over the emancipation of slaves with a leadership of embracement and integration. "I have always found that mercy bears richer fruit than strict justice," he said.

Editorial Writer Koh Mi-seok (mskoh119@donga.com)