Parasite: Agency, Desire, and the Scholar's Rock

Parasite uses many techniques in order to show its unique class commentary. One of the strongest tactics that Bong Joon-ho chooses to implement is symbolism. Through just one symbol, such as the scholar’s rock, we get a whole lot of information about the story Parasite aims to tell.

“(The scholar’s rock) is some kind of symbol of (Ki-woo’s) desire” 

- Bong Joon-ho, Vanity Fair, 2019

No better way to explain it than to take the words directly from the director. The scholar’s rock is a part of Ki-woo, he even says “it keeps clinging to me” further emphasizing the fact that they are inseparable. Ki-woo’s desire in the film, in my opinion, is for his family to have a better life. We see him put himself in increasingly dangerous situations, along with the rest of the Kims, to provide that better life for his family. Ki-woo has that same desire before he is gifted the rock, however, the rock is introduced as a symbol of agency as well. It is when Ki-woo gets the rock that he also gets the job recommendation for a tutor. Only when Ki-woo has the agency to affect his family in this way does his desire become so strong, it physically manifests itself within the rock. The rock passively follows the Kims throughout the movie, it is always in their possession. When their house floods it is the object that Ki-woo saves. He attempts to hold onto his desire and eventually use it as a blunt weapon to clear his obstacles, however, it ends up being what ends the Kim's invasion of the Parks, and separates the family irreversibly. 

Looking at this from a critical lens, it seems Bong Joon-ho is trying to communicate the lack of agency those in poverty face. It is impossible for them to climb that ladder until, by pure chance, they are encountered with an opportunity. Given that opportunity, they must commit horrible deeds to make use of it and, in the end, they are only punished for their desire to live in comfort. At the end of the film, Ki-woo places the rock into a river, showing us that he no longer has the agency to pursue a better life for his family. The Kims, and many families in the real world, will always stay in the same place, unless, by some miracle, they are presented with that opportunity.


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