Parasite Essay Questions

Who is the "parasite" in the film?

In many ways, all of the characters can be thought of as parasites in their own way. The Kims are parasitical because they have used false pretences to get jobs (that don't seem to involve much necessary work) with the Parks. Geun-sae and Moon-gwang are parasites because they use the Parks' basement as a shelter. The Parks themselves are parasites because they are completely dependent on employees from the lower classes to do all their work for them, and perhaps on society at large.

What happens at the end of the film?

At the end of the film, after learning that his father is hiding out in the bunker, Ki-woo writes him a letter. He outlines his plans to grow wealthy and buy the house for himself, and we see a montage of him doing just that. We see Ki-taek coming up the stairs from the basement and reuniting with Ki-woo and Chung-sook. Suddenly, the scene shifts to Ki-woo writing the letter in his apartment, and we see that it is all a fantasy, a distant hope.

Why does Ki-taek stab Mr. Park?

Mr. Park, despite treating his employees well, has a condescending attitude towards them, especially towards Ki-taek, whom he thinks smells like boiled rags or old radish. Ki-taek hears Mr. Park express this prejudice when he is hiding under the coffee table, and it fills him with shame. Then, at the party, Ki-taek sees Mr. Park go to grab his car keys from under Geun-sae's dead body. When he sees Mr. Park flinch at Geun-sae's stench, Ki-taek is filled with rage, triggered by the wealthy man's insulting attitude, and stabs him recklessly.

Is the film a comedy?

In many ways, the film can be thought of as a comedy, and includes many humorous moments, that are largely based around the irony of the central situation—the Kims working for the Parks as a secret way of consolidating their income as a family. The film is also notable for the way that it weaves together comedy and tragedy, or comedy and suspense. For instance, when Moon-gwang and Geun-sae blackmail the Kims with the video they took, it is a comical scene, but also an unsettling one. Then, when the Kims are trapped under the coffee table while Mr. and Mrs. Park sleep on the couch, their circumstance is dire, but also nothing short of hilarious. Even in the horrifying sequence of violence in which Geun-sae stabs Ki-jung, there is humor and irony in the fact that, just as the coddled little boy Da-song is about to blow out the candles on his "trauma recovery cake," his art therapist is stabbed in the chest by the man who first traumatized him in the first place.

Why are the Parks so nice, according to Chung-sook?

When the Kims are staying at the Parks' house and commenting on the fact that, even though the Parks are rich, they are so nice, Chung-sook amends this statement by suggesting that the family's wealth is precisely the reason they are nice. She suggests that their wealth irons out the "creases" in their lives to such an extent that they lose all edginess and become nice. Her assessment suggests that there is something shallow or even naive about this "niceness," given that it is a direct result of having an easier life.