Compare and Contrast Essay Sample: Squid Game vs. Sweet Home

Uncontrollable and unpredictable monsters running rampant through the streets in an apocalyptic world or competing against strangers, despite having grown caring relationships with them, in life-or-death games for an unguaranteed amount of money, which sounds better? Sweet Home is a Korean horror show in which people will unexpectedly turn into monsters and those who are left alive have to band together to keep each other safe with little to no help from the outside world. Squid Game is another Korean thriller show that is based around people unknowingly signing their lives away under the false pretenses of receiving large sums of money simply by going to where the games are later held. The Squid Game characters are later forced to play traditional Korean children’s games where the only rule is if you cheat and/or lose, you die. Despite both Squid Game and Sweet Home being based around issues derived from personal greed, they are immensely different in the specific types of people/things they are fighting against, the extent you are able to get attached to the characters, and the fact that one was willing, and one situation was not.

Although a main point of the plot for either show is the fact that they are fighting/competing against someone or something, what they are fighting back against are two entirely different concepts. In the apocalyptic world of Sweet Home, people will unexpectedly turn into monsters based off their deepest/most selfish desires, which is how it is similar to Squid Game in regard to the aspect of personal greed. Once they turn into these various kinds of monsters, they completely lose control of themselves and will more likely than not try and kill anyone they come into contact with. The characters that have not yet turned are left trying to figure out ways to kill these strange supernatural creatures without getting hurt, or even killed, as well. Whereas on the other end of the spectrum, Squid Game puts its characters into a situation where people are pinned against other people and are forced to compete for their lives. Despite the concept of having to play these “extreme” children’s games sounds simple enough, under the special circumstances that these characters are put through, one would see how easy it would be to possibly slip up and lose your life. More specifically, in Squid Game the participants of the games are only allowed very few hours to sleep, or none depending on if the other competitors decide to go after others when they are sleeping, and small amounts of food which just adds even more stress on top of knowing you could die at any moment. As you can see, these two shows are in fact similar in the sense that they are based around fighting for survival, the fact that on one hand there are killer monsters and on the other there are mercenary-esque guards that will not hesitate to kill you if they see you falter even once, goes to show just how much they actually differ from one another.

As for the characters themselves, some may argue that being able to form connections and bonding with the fictional characters within these shows is what really makes them enjoyable, however only one of the two shows in question really allows for that privilege. As the episodes of Sweet Home progress, you are more clearly introduced to the characters and their individual situations and personalities, helping to relate to and form connections with each of the characters. As for the main character in Sweet Home specifically, Cha Hyun-Soo is shown to have a past that is littered with deeply rooted trauma from past bullies that brought him to the point of self-harm and attempted suicide, as well as his parents and younger sister dying in a tragic car accident that he blamed himself for. This deep, tell-all look into his past allows the viewers to sympathize and care for Hyun-Soo and actually form a connection with his character. Despite this dark and gruesome past, he still manages to be kindhearted, and he puts everyone else that he encounters before himself to protect everyone that he can, even if that means putting himself in imminent danger. However, the main character in Squid Game, Seong Gi-Hun, is made out to be quite the troubled individual as well, but for very different reasons. It is immediately revealed in the very first episode that Seong Gi-Hun struggles with a gambling addiction that has gotten so extreme that he is even shown to be gambling away his elderly mother’s money. As we are introduced to him appearing as, to put it simply, a scumbag of an individual, this makes it instantly hard to like him as a character or sympathize with him over his situation where he is deeply indebted to multiple different violent loan sharks. However, the only fact that somewhat is a redeeming factor of his character trope is that he is still trying his best to be a decent father for his child that lives with his wife, to whom he is divorced. Therefore, since Sweet Home offers a glimpse into almost every character’s lives and allows for viewers to emotionally connect with them and Squid Game more or less makes it difficult to like the characters, this acts as another aspect in which they oppose each other.

In regard to what got said characters into these specific situations, Squid Game was entirely voluntary, aside from the fact that they didn’t entirely know what they were voluntarily doing, and Sweet Home was totally unexpected and against their will. Specifically, in Sweet Home the characters will unwillingly/unexpectedly turn into monsters at random times and can do nothing to stop it. In times of high stress or life-threatening situations, that is generally what sets off the process of turning into a monster since they lose control of themselves and their emotions. Whereas in Squid Game, they were all promised a possible prize of what is roughly $38.5 million in US currency, and those who were in control of the game knew they would accept the offer because they were each targeted due to the immense debt they were all in. In the end, nearly everyone that was offered a playing position in Squid Game accepted after being drawn in by the promising sum of prize money went in voluntarily, which is quite obviously the direct opposite as to what happened in Sweet Home where everyone did anything and everything that they could to keep from turning into the monsters they saw around them.

In conclusion, even though the two shows in question are among the same genres and are quite similar in the sense that the main characters face life-threatening situations, they are still different in major ways. Since they differ in what they are fighting for their lives against, the extent you are able to become attached to the characters, and one situation was willingly initiated and one was not, it is easy to see these specific factors that make either show unique. However, these slight similarities and major differences are what manage to make each show unique and interesting in their own ways.