In the short story “Cranes” by Hwang Sunwon, the central theme, memories will always bring friends back together, plays a vital role in the story. First, when the story begins Songsam and his best friend from grade school, Tokchae, become driven apart because they have now become opponents in the Korean War. When Songsam looks at the present situation with his friend he wonders “how could I offer a cigarette to a fellow like this?” (35). At this point in the story Songsam is against his friend in everyway due to the present situation. However, when Songsam thinks about the memories embedded in their relationship he starts realizing that they grew up and learned from each other “when Songsam and Tokchae were about tweleve, they set a trap here and caught a crane” (36). Because of the childish acts they had done when growing up they remember that they were there for each other even when they could have gotten caught for setting a trap by the cranes.