Who is shin in guen

Born Shin In Geun, Shin is the protagonist of the book. He was born in Camp 14, one of the many prison camps scattered across North Korea and because of this has no memories of a childhood outside of a camp environment. He was almost estranged from his parents because there was no time set aside for bonding or for family; he was taught all of his life lessons by camp guards, in a country where important life lessons include such things as informing on people, especially those closest to them, and snitching in return for food. Consequently qualities such as love, trust and reliability were alien to him. When he was thirteen he informed on his mother and brother as they were planning to escape from the camp. As a result of his actions they were both executed, and Shin felt nothing but a sense of pride, which was replaced by guilt after he had left the camp himself. Shin has turned out to be an unreliable narrator but the book portrays him as a sympathetic survivor with a complex personality formed under very brutal conditions.