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7 years ago
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Pam Noa examplified being a law abiding, good guy who wanted to live up and surpass his father's legacy as a Good Korean.

To do so he was taught that a Good Korean wasn't allowed to cheat or shirk his duties. This is exemplified when as a child he was unable to skip school for any reason, even his own father's death. This guidance was then seconded by Hansu when he said that he was behind in his studies and needed to study so that he could be a Good Korean. He had to make something of himself, he had to prove to every racist; every person who had a grudge, that he was a decent Korean.

And for a long time he prided himself on believeing he was succeeeding. He believed that hard work, talent, and a large amount of luck was making a difference.

Then he discovered not only was his girlfriend with him because she pitied him and treated him as her own personal vendetta against her parents, but then that he wasn't the son of a martyr. Worse, he was the son of a stinking collborator. This is akin to thinking you were son of God only to find out that you were the son of the Devil instead.

To him, this meant that no matter how hard he worked, no matter how hard he strove he was still never going to be a Good Korean.

So when he left; he rejected the idea of ever becoming a Good Korean. He rejected the idea that such a unicorn could ever exists. So as he "fell from grace"; he rejected his countryman taking on the Japanese culture; he rejected his stance on pachinko - thinking he was already dirty might as well become dirtier; and he rejected love. He essentially, became Hansu's son; who lived, worked, and bred with Japanese.

So when Sunja comes to see him; he said it was a relief. He finally didn't have to hide, no longer had to pretend to be something he wasn't. And that's the crux. He could no longer be the Good Korean, but a part of him also could no longer be Hansu's son, too. He couldn't be either.

So why did he keep visiting the grave? I'm not sure.
- does this mean he was trying to reconcile his life with the one person he respected the most?
- Was he trying so desperately to understand what his father would do in this situation?
- Was he having a more Biblical moment with his father?

I think Lee left it open for us to decide ourselves

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Susan Grebe I really enjoyed this book and I also learned a lot from it. Having said this, I have to add that I found the Noa storyline disturbing. Until he took off, he seemed like a caring, thoughtful person to me. For him to cut off from his mother and other family members in such a cruel manner didn't fit. I get that he was extremely upset when he found out that Isak was not his father. But until his girlfriend told him that Hansu was a gangster, he didn't even realize this! His hatred for Hansu after that, who had helped the family many times, didn't make sense to me. I ended up disliking Noa's character and that was the only thing that marred the book for me.

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