Without exception, North Korean fiction seeks to instill a teaching in the mind of the reader. Almost every story includes an exemplary character whose upright behavior is to be emulated. A recurring storyline is the protagonist's initial misunderstanding of a hard-working person as emotionally cold and eventual realisation that hard work is in fact an instance of love felt for the nation. It is usually this protagonist that comes to realisation rather than the idealised character that the reader is supposed to identify with.