In the story "Cranes," what do the cranes symbolize?

In
Asian culture, cranes are generally symbols of good fortune and longevity. Since this story is
set in Korea, one can assume that it depicts the same or a similar theme.

The
narrator describes an encounter between two childhood friends who had been separated because of
the Korean War. When the conflict began, one decided to flee from their village and the other
stayed behind. Their meeting, years later, finds them in contrasting positions of the political
divide. As such, they have now become enemies.

It is clear from the text that
one, Song-sam, is in a superior position to the other, Tok-chae. Tok-chae has been arrested as
an enemy of the state and is to be taken to another village for execution. His former friend,
Song-sam, asks to take him. The narrator shares Song-sam's thoughts and sentiments with the
reader and provides insight into the two men's past relationship. It becomes clear that they
were best friends who shared a number of adventures in their youth.

The
cranes that they come across reminds Song-sam of their experience with a crane and how they kept
it as a pet for fun and entertainment. They eventually set it free when they realized that it
would be captured "as a specimen or something." Their chief concern at the time was
the crane's safety and not the fact that they would get into trouble for capturing it.

In this sense, the crane firstly symbolizes their friendship. They shared a common
interest, and they had a shared love for the creature. , being wild animals, also symbolize
freedom. They are unfettered by social or political events and continue following their
instincts and living according to their custom. This is clearly illustrated by the
statement:

The cranes were still living here, as before,
while the people were all gone.

Son-sam realizes that
their entrapment of the creature put it in danger and he seems to accept that, symbolically,
their actions did more harm than good. In this regard, the animal's initial inability to walk or
fly became a symbol of their carelessness and abuse, just as the war had entrapped them and made
them victims.

The fact that that their crane, despite its disability, was
only encouraged to fly off by the appearance of another, and not by the impending danger,
further symbolizes the importance of the invisible bond that ties them together. The crane was
motivated by the instinctual desire to be with its own kind.

Son-sam realizes
the symbolic significance of the cranes in the end and decides to let Tok-chae go free. He
understands that his erstwhile friend's freedom is more important than anything else and uses
the supposed hunt for a crane as a hint for him to escape after he has untied him. Tok-chae,
though, just as the bird had been disabled, is also not mentally able to, at first, fathom the
enormity of Son-sam's suggestion until he is encouraged by his old friend to, just like the
crane, take flight and soar freely.

The reference to a couple of Tanjong
cranes soaring "high into the clear blue autumn sky" extends the symbol of freedom and
signifies that both men have achieved freedom, each in his own way.

In this
regard, the symbol of good fortune and longevity is at its most powerful. Son-sam obviously
wants Tok-chae to live and wants him to be well. The story also demonstrates that their
friendship, although not as strong as it had been, withstood not only the test of time but also
overcame the dramatic changes that it brought.