If you look at satellite photographs of the Far East by night, you'll see a large splotch curiously lacking in light. This area of darkness is the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the stark contrast between North Korea and its neighboring regions, emphasizing the country's isolation.
Barbara Demick's quote draws attention to the lack of light in North Korea when viewed from satellite images, symbolizing not just the physical darkness but also the political and social isolation of the country. This absence of light stands as a metaphor for the restricted freedoms and the stark differences in development compared to its neighbors, suggesting that the darkness represents an area where modern life and connectivity are deeply hindered.
In practice
In a speech discussing global human rights, one might reference this quote to emphasize the plight of North Koreans.
In 2012, a five-year-old girl in Shandong province described to me how ten officials had chased her six-months-pregnant mother through the fields to prevent the birth of the family's second child, a boy. She died during the procedure.
In 1984, George Orwell wrote of a world where the only colour to be found was in the propaganda posters. Such is the case in North Korea. Images of Kim Il-sung are depicted in vivid colours. Rays of yellow and orange emanate from his face: he is the sun.
The less government interferes with private pursuits, the better for general prosperity.
Iran has to live up to its international obligations. . . . The president has said that our patience is not unlimited.
The Republican Party supported the Equal Rights Amendment before the Democratic Party did. But what happened was that a lot of very right-wing Democrats, after the civil rights bill of 1964, left the Democratic Party and gradually have taken over the Republican Party.
The invasion of Iraq, particularly, gave a big shot in the arm to the jihadi extremists.
Politics is the entertainment branch of industry.
Pakistan's key leaders have succumbed to the assassin's bullet or bomb or the hangman's noose, and the country has seen four military coups since its birth in 1947. Yet the Pakistani polity has limped on.
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