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| Image by Pixabay |
Around 400 people sign-up to participate in games that they might have played during their childhood. Winners are promised cash prizes worth billions! Sounds too good to be true right? However, here's the catch. Failing to succeed in these games may cause you to lose not only the money, but also your life! If that wasn’t shocking enough, with each eliminated player, more money gets added on to the intended cash prize. The events that follow post this realization forms the rest of the story in this series.
This Netflix series went on to earn critical acclaim upon its release. Millions of viewers across 94 countries tuned in to watch this thriller series. Its gripping plotline will surely keep you at the edge of your seats! But with the statistics and its popularity aside, let us look at some of the lessons this South Korean survival-drama taught us viewers.
If you haven’t watched the series yet. Be warned, there are serious spoilers ahead!
Kindness can come from the strangest of places.
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| Image by Pixabay |
The very first game in the series stands as a witness to this claim. Amidst all the chaos and panic that erupted due to the massacre in the game ‘Red light, Green light’. A character named Ali had the heart to lend a helping hand to Gi-hun, one of the pivotal characters in the series. He risked his life to save a complete stranger during a life or death situation.
This certainly gives the viewers a hope that help will surely come during the different walks of life. It also encourages us to lend a helping hand like Ali, irrespective of familiarity with the person or the kind of situation.
As you sow, so you reap.
In the Squid Game series, Gi-hun’s generosity towards Il-nam was truly heartwarming. When nobody expected Il-nam to stand a chance in the games. Gi-hun stood by his side, encouraged him and supported him when necessary. However, little did he know that the person he was helping was much more than a frail old man with brain tumor. His kindness earned him the favor of a multi-billionaire well wisher who turned his life around for the better. Well….financially at least.
Being strong is good, but thinking smart can take you a long way.
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| Image by Burst Shopify |
Take the game of ‘Tug of war’ from the Squid Game series for example. The opponent team appeared strong indeed. But we were rooting for the team that consisted of a relatively less muscular batch of players. With the addition of a frail old man in the team, their chances of winning were very less. But Il-nam the old man was full of surprises!
The techniques of winning the game that he shared with the team gave them a temporary upper hand over their opponents. When they seemed to be losing in front of their opponents’ sheer strength. Sang Woo’s idea of the element of surprise brought them a life-saving victory over their adversaries. Moral of the story: Be strong, think smart.
Money is important, try not to run out of it.
The billionaires who created the squid games, played with the desperation of almost 400 money deprived people. Many of the participants were in huge debts and needed the cash prize to survive in the real world. Although one can do more than just survive with the cash prize on the line, greed and need forced the common and subtle people to go up to extreme lengths.
Hence, it is better to be educated, find a stable job, have insurance for your future, and make investments and expenditures wisely. Sang Woo from the Squid Game series is often criticised for the deceit he carried on against his friends and trustees. But it isn’t hard to understand why he did what he did. After drowning upto his neck with financial difficulties and his lonely mother waiting for him. Anyone would have done the same thing if they were in his shoes.
Sure, Money is important. But money isn’t happiness
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| Image by Burst Shopify |
Winning the intended cash prize along with the 455 others’ share of money. Gi-hun indeed won big in life. But what was left of him by the end of the Squid Game was a traumatized soul after witnessing the death of his friends and the dead body of his mother.
Il-nam, who is revealed to be the billionaire master-mind behind the squid game, couldn't buy joy and happiness with all the money he had. As he participated in the games alongside the other participants, he experienced happiness as he re-lived his childhood memories and found a good friend in Gi-hun. But his idea of Squid Game was inhumane and barbaric.
The series ends with Il-nam dying, having made a questionable decision about starting the Squid Game and being the reason for the deaths of almost 400 people. Gi-hun is shown moving to the US after a significant makeover with his appearance, only to discover the Squid Game’s establishers seeking the next batch of participants for their game.
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