prolog

1.
Second upload
2.
Third upload
3.
Giraffe outside the window
4.
Brown's discovery
5.
Meeting Sora
6.
Peanut's worries
7.
Lucky's story
8.
Village in the Forest
9.
Jaei's tailing
10.
The Truth About Trucks
11.
Secrets of the Animal Brain Uploading Center
12.
The Otter's Sorrow
13.
Jaei's Choice

Epilogue
Author's Note
Children's Jury Comments

A question posed by a writer armed with unparalleled imagination and prophetic insight!
“What kind of relationship should animals and humans have?”

"The Giraffe Outside the Window" is the story of Jaei, a girl who is left alone after being unable to move into the utopia "Riverview" created by the artificial intelligence Emos with her family.
Jay discovers that he cannot enter Riverview because he has a special ability to communicate with animals, so he prepares to get rid of his special ability and become like everyone else to enter Riverview.
Then one day, Jae-i's heart begins to waver when he meets his friend Sora in the forest.
To Jae, who is about to leave for Riverview even after a bitter separation from his pet, Sora tells him that she chose to live alone, away from her family, because of her pet.
Jaei finds Sora very unfamiliar, but wants to know why she made that choice.

Sora's choice reflects recent thinking on the epistemological shift in attitudes toward non-humans, including animals, through the use of the term 'companion species'.
The perspective from which humans perceive animals has changed from 'pet-companion animal-companion species' to 'companion animal'.
When animals are perceived as commodities to be bought and sold, the term 'pet' is used, and when animals are perceived as beings that are more intimate with humans rather than simply commodities, the term 'companion animal' is used.
Although 'companion animal' is a better term than 'pet', it still objectifies animals and contains a deep-rooted prejudice that only humans are the agents of action.
Because we view nature and humans as separate and dichotomous, we cannot escape the common notion that humans domesticate animals, which are nature.
In contrast, the way of thinking reflected in the term 'companion species' perceives the relationship between humans and animals as equal.
From this perspective, humans are also part of the companion species.
That is, if we think of animals as companion animals, they become beings that cannot be abandoned and cannot be used as experimental subjects.
It's just like humans don't think of their children as beings that can be abandoned or experimented on.


One day, Jaei suddenly meets a giraffe in the garden and begins to interact with various animals, realizing that Sora made that choice because she perceives animals as companions.
What makes this work special is that it redefines the relationship between animals and humans by weaving communication between different species (animals and humans) into a fantastical science fiction narrative.


I believe that living with animals is more than just caring for someone; it is an experience that allows me to grow and develop together with them.
What are animals? What kind of relationship should animals have with humans? What significance do animals hold in our lives? As I pondered these and other questions, my thoughts on animals gradually deepened.
After losing my dog ​​Marin, I wanted to soothe my longing and sadness by reading books, so I started looking for books about animals.
『Animal Liberation』, 『The Zoo of Misunderstanding』, 『What Are Animals to Humans』.
Books like “How Animals Mourn”.
As I read those books, the story of "The Giraffe Outside the Window" began to sprout little by little.
(From the author's note)

I guarantee that after reading "The Giraffe Outside the Window," you will define the relationship between animals and humans in a completely different way.

This is the first time Jae-i has experienced this as he lives alone away from his family.
Loneliness and anxiety, and the need for loving care and true freedom.

Jay and Sora choose to live alone, away from their family.
What they face while living alone is completely different from the daily life they have experienced so far.
Those who were under parental control for reasons such as safety, hygiene, and protection are forced out of their comfort zone the moment they choose to live alone, but in return, they are exposed to the lives of others outside of their comfort zone.
Through their time alone, Jaei and Sora build friendships with peers who choose different lives, stand up to adults who commit injustice, meet and communicate with different species, and interact with diverse neighbors, experiencing a variety of experiences that enrich their formative years.
Staying safe under parental care or control isn't always the best option.
Freedom, whether from parental indifference or permission, is an essential condition for children's growth.
The same goes for Jay and Sora.
They achieve mental freedom and growth while receiving care from their neighbors, even though their parents are absent.


What the author excels at here is that he limits the time that Jaei and Sora are separated from their parents.
Jae-i takes care of Peanut and Walnut a little more, and Sora promises that she will go to Riverview with her parents once Soon-i crosses the rainbow bridge.
This gives the narrative, which could have seemed unrealistic, of young girls leaving their blood relatives and being left alone in another world to be with their pets, a very plausible reality.
Although children will temporarily enjoy freedom and independence and then return to being with their parents as before, they will never be the same again when they return.


In addition, 『The Giraffe Outside the Window』 raises many questions and thoughts within its appropriate narrative.
Can humanity truly trust that AI Emos "always makes just and rational decisions"? Can we truly say they're the same person, even if their minds remain the same but their bodies are different? What kind of relationship should animals and humans have? If we seriously ponder these questions, we'll discover that the children's judge's words, "This is a story about the future and the special choices we will soon face in the age of AI," are no exaggeration.