at its core, hand jumper is a critique on power.
it is established early on that those who gain power must sacrifice something.
sayeon’s introduction involves her studying to the point of exhaustion— "eating a little, sleeping even less"-- to become the top of her class. sayeon’s deprivation of her basic needs, like socialization, sleep, and food, introduce the idea that something intrinsic and human must always be given up in order to improve your abilities.
additionally, hand jumper portrays the necessary sacrifices for power as corrupting.
samin is scared her own mother will harm her sister, and sayeon herself describes sara as a "strange and difficult woman". she says that “for the longest time, (her) mother felt like something pretending to be human". Through the way other characters view and discuss sara lee’s lack of humanity, the author frames the sacrifice sara made to attain power as a tragedy.
conversely, abstinence from power is framed as human.
extreme power allows its user to commit atrocities, which is exactly why ryujin kang refuses to use her gift. her refusal to exert power over others is portrayed as morally right because it prevents the most extreme acts of violence from happening. apart from this, ryujin's reason for not using her gift is deeply personal, tied to her trauma and emotions. using her gift would involve betraying her morals. ryujin's morality, and thus, humanity, is directly linked to her abstinence from power.
in summary, sleepacross uses characters' treatment of aberrant ability to warn readers that great power often comes at an even greater cost.
hand jumper is a cautionary tale on power imbalance.
sayeon starts developing a god complex and committing morally questionable acts because of her detachment from real consequences, and thus, her ability to rewind time. she starts viewing herself as morally superior to others, allowing her to harm others with no remorse.
Even koryo’s real-world events are a cautionary tale of power asymmetry. the story starts with a news story about butcher, an aberrant, murdering a prosecutor, while she, a human, is rendered helpless. near chapter 40, the narrator illustrates an aberrant killing over 200 civilian with their gift. these scenes show the reader that the scale of harm is amplified by aberrant strength, which gives them extreme physical power over civilians. This communicates that power can negatively impact morality by placing the user on a higher level than other, non-powerful or differently abled people.
thus, the author criticises the absurdity in the placement of power, which often favors a minority.
the readers question whether power has truly fallen into the right hands. sayeon says it herself-- that "aberrancy isn't bestowed onto the most virtuous, but falls into the hands of randoms like min and (her)” through sleepacross’s portrayal of power asymmetry, she shows how unjust placement of power leads to abuse.
finally, power is realistically portrayed as multidimensional.
although the governor is a human who is leagues weaker than captain han, an aberrant, he carries far more political power. this allows him to treat the captain poorly, as evidenced by his constant beratement and mockery. the civilian sayeon tries to use as a “hostage” similarly has less physical power than yesol or juni, but he has systemic power as a human with a peace card. despite being an aberrant, a marginalized group, captain gyeon is acknowledged by the government due to his social status and political influence. these characters display that power can be multifaceted, and that different types of power can strengthen each other when used in tandem.
Through the governor and captain gyeon, sleepacross deepens her portrayal of power. additionally, the usage of realistic types of power (social, political, systemic) allow readers to better relate messages about power to their own experiences, which increases the effectivity of sleepacross’s other criticisms on sacrifice and power imbalance.
all in all, hand jumper is a nuanced critique on all aspects of power-- both the people whose hands power fall upon and the terrifying atrocities those same hands are capable of committing.
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