This dissertation aims to investigate Kim Yujeong's perception of realities by studying the meaning of the space in his novels and aspects of the characters coping with realities.
In the introductory chapter, I delineated the subject of this study and reviewed the preceding studies. In addition, I narrowed down the range of this study and delineated the subject matter, too. A variety of detailed spaces in Kim Yujeong's novels manifest the metropolis and intensively present the problems of the metropolis as well. These detailed spaces and their meanings are considered as the metropolis that the author is looking at. Therefore, in chapter two, I analyzed the characteristics of the important spatial backgrounds in his novels, such as, streets, hospitals, rooms, walls, and doors and searched their symbols. In chapter three, I examined a variety of characters struggling to adapt themselves to the new environment of the metropolis and his opinion on these characters. I inferred the author's perception of realities through the author's opinion on the ways in which the characters cope with realities.
Streets and hospitals as the space of symbolizing the metropolis expose the cruelty of capitalism. Rooms are described as the shelter for persons suffering from the cruelty of capitalism. Kim Yujeong in his works described not only the surroundings where communication is impossible but also the surroundings where communication is possible, blocked by walls and doors. In addition, he informs us of his subject that those suffered from capitalism can overcome the hardships of the realties by communicating with each other. Most of the characters in Kim Yujeong's urban novels suffer from the outside realties. Some of them adapt themselves to the realities through moral corruption and others die out. However, the representative type as 'Akiko' overcomes an absurd reality through loving and paying attention to the neighbours. Therefore, Kim Yujeong presents 'love' as the alternative to overcome an absurd realty.