Hong Gildong is the novel’s protagonist. He is the son of state minister Hong mo, who is a nobleman, and a maid named Chunseom, who is a slave. His mother’s lowborn cheonmin status transfers to him, and Gildong cannot follow the career path of a nobleman or act on his ambitions. His older brother, Inhyeon, is his father’s legitimate son, and Gildong’s greatest pain is that he cannot address his brother as “brother” or his father as “father” because of their differences in social status.

Gildong is exceptional from birth: “As the boy grew up, he exhibited magnificence in both the strength of his body and the brilliance of his intellect. He needed to hear only one thing to understand ten, and learning ten things allowed him to master a hundred. He never forgot a single thing he heard or saw just once” (3). In giving Gildong such admirable traits, the author challenges the concepts of “lowborn” and “highborn” as indicating anything inherent about a person’s character or abilities. Gildong teaches readers not to underestimate people of lower status.

Irreverence and wisdom characterize Gildong. He is young for most of the novel, and he enjoys reversing assumed power dynamics.