State-Sanctioned Violence
The Korean state perpetuates violence throughout the novel, starting with the murder of civilians in the first chapter. Han juxtaposes the way that Gwangju citizens and soldiers treat these bodies. Not only do the police and soldiers kill people, but they continue to dehumanize the bodies after death. This is especially apparent in Chapter 2 when Jeong-dae's spirit witnesses his body being piled among others in a remote clearing before being burned.
Many citizens who actively participated in the Gwangju Uprising were punished or imprisoned. The unnamed prisoner in Chapter 4 reveals the horrendous conditions that he and other prisoners were subjected to. Seon-ju also recounts experiencing sexual violence during her incarceration (Chapter 5). Not only were the prisoners forced to endure physical and psychological torture, but a great deal of them could never return to their normal lives again. The lingering effects of trauma impact the survivors well into the future, showing how state violence can permanently damage people's lives.
Universality
The Gwangju Uprising was a real historical event that left lasting impacts on Korean individuals and the nation as a whole. Han recognizes Gwangju in all atrocities as a name for the endless cycle of brutality that humans inflict on each other. In the final chapter, Han describes how the events in Gwangju were not isolated. She writes, "'Gwangju' had become another name for whatever is forcibly isolated, beaten down, and brutalized, for all that has been mutilated beyond repair" (Chapter 7). The unnamed prisoner also recognizes the connection between Gwangju and the world when he says, "It happened in Gwangju just as it did on Jeju Island, in Kwantung and Nanjing, in Bosnia, and all across the American continent when it was still known as the New World, with such a uniform brutality it's as though it is imprinted in our genetic code" (Chapter 4). In this way, Han centers the novel on what happened in Gwangju in 1980, but in doing so, she asks fundamental questions about all of humanity.
Imprisonment
In her novel Human Acts, Han Kang provides fictionalized accounts of both physical and psychological imprisonment following the Gwangju Uprising. Characters such as the unnamed prisoner (who narrates Chapter 4), Jin-su, and Seon-ju were taken into custody and tortured following their involvement in the uprising. This torture was an attempt to subjugate their minds, bodies, and souls, as well as completely strip them of their dignity. Even after these characters were released from prison, they could never free themselves from their experiences. This led to isolation and, in Jin-su's case, suicide.
Other characters feel trapped by a sense of survivor's guilt, such as when Dong-ho cannot bring himself to return home after his best friend's death. Other characters blame themselves for Dong-ho's death, including his mother, Eun-sook, Seon-ju, Jin-su, and the unnamed prisoner.
Time
Time does not always function in a linear way in Human Acts. Han Kang extensively researched the Gwangju Uprising to write the novel, studying both the documented series of events and people's testimonies. Ultimately, she chose a literary approach that explores the uprising through different people's perspectives rather than providing a cut-and-dried retelling of history. For this reason, what happened at Gwangju resurfaces over the years (both in the novel and, as Hang points out, in the world).
Many of the characters in Human Acts cannot escape the trauma of their experiences. Memories resurface in the present, often isolating the characters and preventing them from leading the lives they would have otherwise lived. For the unnamed prisoner in Chapter 4, the passage of time brings the hope of release. He says, "I wait for time to wash me away like muddy water..." with death being the only possible way to end his suffering. For Dong-ho's mother, time is cruel and something to force herself through. This is seen when she addresses her dead son, saying, "The thread of life is as tough as an ox tendon, so even after I lost you, it had to go on. I had to make myself eat, make myself work, forcing down each day like a mouthful of cold rice, even if it stuck in my throat" (Chapter 6). These characters and others in the book convey disrupted relationships with time.
Nationalism
In Chapter 1, Dong-ho questions the way that civilian organizers at the Provincial Office memorialized those killed by the military. Specifically, the memorial service includes singing the National Anthem and spreading the Taegukgi (the national flag) over each coffin. Why, Dong-ho asks, perform these nationalistic gestures if the "nation itself...murdered them[?]" Eun-sook responds by contesting Dong-ho's idea about who represents the nation. Many years later, Seon-ju also reflects on her own answer, stating that these nationalistic rituals served as funeral rites meant to dignify the dead (Chapter 5). By including these different perspectives, Han Kang shows that nationalism can be subjective.
Dehumanization
All of the characters directly involved in the Gwangju Uprising experience dehumanization. Even after death, those who were murdered suffered disrespect at the hands of the soldiers. This is seen in Chapter 2 when Jeong-dae witnesses his body piled indiscriminately among those killed by soldiers. He describes the tower as "the corpse of some enormous, fantastical beast, its dozens of legs splayed out beneath it." In other words, the soldiers obliterated the differences between people's individual bodies, as well as their lives, relationships, hopes, dreams, and everything that encompassed them as human beings.
Even when the process of dehumanization does not lead to the extreme outcome of death, it still impacts the characters. For instance, Eun-sook describes how "a part of one's self must be temporarily detached from the whole" in order to survive demeaning moments like police searches (Chapter 3). Another example also occurs in Chapter 3 regarding extreme censorship. Controlling the press may not directly harm people in a physical way, but Han suggests that it has intellectual and spiritual consequences for all of humanity.
Connection and Vulnerability
The civilians who protested against Chun Doo-hwan's coup were united by ideals such as freedom and democracy. The unnamed prisoner who narrates Chapter 4 describes this sense of solidarity as "the sublime enormity of a single heart, pulsing blood through that vessel and into my own." However, in "[daring] to feel a part of it," the prisoner (as well as countless others) suffered intense persecution. Every single character in the novel experiences varying degrees of trauma.
The novel itself is structured around the different narrators' connections to Dong-ho and to the Gwangju Uprising. Often, the characters' memories of Dong-ho are tinged with guilt for not preventing his murder. Dong-ho's mother berates herself for not insisting that he come home, and other acquaintances (including the unnamed prisoner, Eun-sook, and Seon-ju) feel responsible for his death.
In order to survive and keep going, many of the characters feel no choice but to isolate themselves and attempt to hide their vulnerability. For example, Seon-ju describes slamming shut the door on her memories concerning the tortures she underwent (Chapter 5). Both she and the unnamed prisoner challenge the ethics of Professor Yoon's request for their testimonies.
