[Limelight] The Possibility of Dignity Pointed to by Seong Gi-hun's Sacrifice

A compass made solely from reason is incomplete
The ways to overcome: failure and encounters with others
Lee Jungjae: "Meaning is found in trying everything possible"

In Season 3 of "Squid Game," Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jungjae) sacrifices himself to save a baby. Although he does not succeed in collapsing the game system, he ultimately demonstrates human dignity. He was not a noble or upright person from the beginning. He squandered money stolen from his elderly mother on gambling and failed to be a proper father to his daughter. However, after becoming involved in the deaths of 455 people, he transforms into a different person. He re-enters the game and begins to dissuade other participants from joining.

Squid Game Season 3 Still Cuts

There was always a possibility that Seong Gi-hun could change. He was a diligent worker who spent 16 years at a car company. He participated in strikes and protests against management's restructuring and was eventually laid off. The reasons his life became entangled were not his fault. They stemmed from the unfairness of society, which was beyond his control. Having experienced the brutality of the game once, the second game had to be a journey to regain his humanity.

Many viewers criticize the series for lacking persuasiveness in this sequence of events. As a representative example, they point to the scene in which he shifts the blame for the failed revolution onto Kang Daeho (Kang Haneul). However, a compass made solely from reason is inevitably incomplete. When one's goals vanish into the fog, it leads to a distorted path. For those who strive for growth and self-understanding according to their ideals and beliefs, it is not easy to recognize the limitations of their own perspectives, self-image, and worldview. This is difficult even as an individual, and even more so as a member of a society that shares the same values.

Ironically, one way to overcome this is through failure. When one experiences the profound pain of having their worldview and self-image collapse, they gain the ability to see things they could not see before. By recognizing the limitations of ideals and beliefs once thought to be right and valid, one can seek out new, broader, and more productive directions.

Squid Game Season 3 Still Cut

An even more effective way is through encounters with others. By coming face to face with beliefs different from one's own, people expand their self-image and worldview. Only then do they come to see their own beliefs not as absolute, but as relative. In Seong Gi-hun's case, he begins to question his own way of thinking and ideals after hearing Jang Geumja's confession during the hide-and-seek game that she killed her son to protect the baby.

This is a fundamental question that has run through human history. In "Squid Game," it emerges as the force that brings down the totalitarian rule of the Front Man (Lee Byunghun). Historically, wars and oppression have all failed through similar processes. No ruler has ever been able to prevent people from meeting and sharing different ideas with each other.

Lee Jungjae, who discussed this with director Hwang Donghyuk several times, stated, "I want to emphasize the significance of Seong Gi-hun having tried everything he could." He added, "When reading the script, the part about killing Kang Daeho was the most heartbreaking. He is not the kind of person who would do that, but in the worst situation, he seemed to show his weakest and most cowardly side. However, he certainly did not make the same mistake twice. He rejected the Front Man's offer to secretly kill participants with a knife and stepped into the final game. He did not just drift aimlessly through life, but moved toward humanity within dignity."

Squid Game Season 3 Still Cuts

Dignity is a concept that takes root deep within as a conviction, endowing a person with human characteristics and prompting their unique humanity to manifest in action. Those who have attained dignity do not seek evaluation or recognition of what they possess or of their very existence. They do not yearn for power, influence, wealth, symbols, status, or position to make them feel their value and significance.

By reclaiming his dignity, Seong Gi-hun tells us that every human being can live differently from how they have lived up to now at any moment. At the end of this journey lies the possibility of humanity emphasized by German neuroscientist Gerald Huether in his book "To Live with Dignity." "As long as people regard each other as means to an end?intentions, purposes, expectations, evaluations, strategies, or instructions?the possibility and potential of dignity cannot shine. But when an environment is created in which people treat each other as individuals, whether in the family, the neighborhood community, or society at large, this potential will inevitably shine. It will not stop at the potential of the individual, but will lead to the brilliant development of society as a whole."