Pushed into the Dirt by the System

This paper offers a Neo-Marxist literary reading of Cho Myung-hee's short story "Into the Ground" (1925), analyzing the systematic destruction of Korean family, community, and individual dreams within the economic order of colonialism under Japanese colonial rule. By close reading, this analysis argues that the protagonist's poverty, social conflict, and ultimate loss of identity are not the product of personal failure but rather the direct result of structural violence, colonial exploitation, and manufactured false consciousness. The paper argues that Cho's work is a brave political critique that, given the context of history, the author paid for with his life. The analysis concludes that the story of Cho remains relevant as a reminder that social suffering is an expression of systemic inequality, not individual moral failing.