VOL.78/2025.01

Belong Nowhere to Belong Everywhere

After reading Melanin

2024.12.02

When I found out that Melanin (Hankyoreh Publishing) was a story about “someone born with blue skin,” I expected it to be about SF or superpowers. I assumed that it would be about a new species different from an ordinary human being, thinking of “Mystic” from the movie “X-Men.” But, I was completely wrong – I also realized that I had prejudice and discriminative thoughts inside me. Even if the protagonist was born with blue skin, he was a human being just like us. No matter what skin we might be born with – be it white, black, or yellow, or no matter how we might have a disability, be a certain religion, be homosexual, or be in any other minority, we are the same kind of human being.
This book is a deeply thought-provoking piece about human identity and social prejudice. Through the protagonist, Jae-Il, the author highlights how the simple difference of skin color has been used as a tool for social stratification. Born blue-skinned to a Korean father and Vietnamese mother, Jae-Il is always the marginalized child in the country, at home, at school, and in his social community. In the story, Jae-Il immigrates from Korea to the US, only to be met with the same discrimination and a new label: Asian.

In the US, Jae-Il finds it difficult to adapt to the new environment at first, but soon he meets good friends. He also gets a friend who has the same blue skin as his. But, life in the US was not as easy as it seemed. Just like how Jae-Il said, “This skin color sends me to the lowest class,” classmates bully him, teachers are racist in class, and his dad looks the other way. We, too, have times when we have to adapt to a new environment or be supported by nobody. Maybe that is why I could empathize deeply with his sorrow and loneliness. And, it also makes me wonder if I have ever been uncomfortable with differences.
Is blue skin a curse, or the birth of a new humanity? Whatever the answer, there is no doubt that they are the same human beings as us. This book goes beyond the discourse of skin color, and addresses the underlying stereotypes and discrimination in our society. I believe that our society can truly progress only when more various types of people can shine in their own colors. I recommend this book to you, hoping you read it and share your impressions with other readers abroad.

Written by Kim Jin-Hwan (Reader of K-Book Trends)