Wk. 10: Pachinko Lessons

  After finishing Pachinko I think one of the main reasons that Min Jin Lee wrote this novel was both to expose people do Korean history and culture that is often misrepresented or underrepresented in western societies.

 One of the most important lessons that I think Lee is trying to portray is just the importance of family within these Asian cultures of Korean and Japanese. Family is incredibly important throughout the novel, but, as the novel progresses it seems that this same family is slowly becoming more and more distant. In the beginning of the novel, Sunja and her parents are working together in one household where they become close and really feel the important of family, but, as the novel continues, the newer generations seem to be drifting apart more and living more individualistic lives. Which is a more western idea and shows just how the world is getting much more global with the dominance of the western cultures and societies influencing other cultures.

    Another important aspect of the novel is just the slow integration towards more western thoughts and ideas throughout the novel. Towards the beginning of the novel, Hoonie and Sunja both live under the idea that a matchmaker, for the most part, is the one who makes decisions on who should marry who. While later on in the novel, they take on the much more western idea of dating and finding people that they would enjoy being with/fallen in love with rather than having some third party make the decision. Which shows just how increasingly the west is influencing other cultures, whether that be for the negative or worse, might yet to be seen. Despite, what appears to be some westernization though, there are still Japanese out there that view Koreans in a negative light. And, much like we talked about in class, Koreans lives seem to be like playing Pachinko; The game might seem random and give it's players some hope for winning big, but reality is that the game is rigged and no matter how hard they try to move up, they always seem to be pushed down in one way or another.

Wk. 10 Literatures of the World

   Overall, I personally really enjoyed this course because we got to explore different parts of the world and different stories from perspectives that I have not learned that much about. Even though we didn't go through a big portion of different literatures of the world, I appreciated that we go a close and specific look at different areas from different time periods. In previous classes, I always got a general overview that was often too dry and never gave me enough information for me to actually put it into good context. 

    In the beginning, one of the most unexpected things about this course was just getting to look at literature books I actually got to enjoy. I went into the class thinking that the majority of the texts we would be reading would be from a dominant western perspective from Victorian England or something along these lines. I wasn't expecting to read about all these different cultures that I have never experienced or heard from. To me, this was a good and very enlightening surprise.

    One thing that changed me was just, similar as I have said, just getting to learn about nonwestern cultures that aren't really dominant. I was also surprised how centered the course was on our own learning. We got to do research excursions based on what we wanted to explore further from the different texts that overall gave us a better understanding of these texts. I also appreciated how creative we could get by using different platforms for our research/other projects.

Wk.9: "Women's lot to suffer"

    For this prompt I chose to write about the constant saying said about women in Pachinko. Throughout the entire novel the saying of, "It is a women's lot is to suffer" was mentioned multiple times by different female characters such as Yangjin, Sunja, and even the Japanese women in Yangjin's favorite tv show. 

"Sunja had heard this sentiment from other women, that they must suffer--- suffer as a girl, suffer as a wife, suffer as a mother--- die suffering. ... She had suffered to create a better life for Noa, and yet it was not enough. Should she have taught her son to suffer the humiliation that she'd drunk like water? In the end, he had refused to suffer the conditions of his birth. Did mothers fail by not telling their sons that suffering would come?" (pg. 414)

The entire novel, is filled with women who suffered, in one way or another. Yangjin suffered her entire life as she took care of the boarding house without her husband, spent time alone when Sunja left, and even to the very end she died painfully from stomach cancer. Yumi suffered from the beginning with parents who didn't care for her, she worked hard, and eventually died after getting hit by a taxi. Sunja is continuing to suffer throughout her life. Hana suffered after her parent's divorced and she was forced to find work and only depend on herself to the point where it seems like she was mentally unwell. These are just some examples of the different women suffering throughout the entire novel. And from the repeated sentiment, it seems like the women have just accepted suffering as part of their own lives that won't go away. I wonder if part of the reason that Lee decided to continue this sentiment throughout the novel was because of the times gender roles. Women were subordinate to the men during this time and culture and often had to listen to their husbands. Often, the women don't really get to choose what they want or do what they want, especially those women in the lower classes. All in all, I am still trying to fully decipher what Lee is trying to reveal through this thought. 

Wk 9: Akiko and Noa

     In the passage about Noa commenting on his revelation on how Akiko saw him, Lee showcases how Japanese saw Koreans on another level. Especially before and during the second world war. Most Japanese outright would show their disgust for Koreans or, at least, showcase their superiority to Koreans. As time progressed though, some of the superiority became a little more discrete, just as in Akiko's case. Akiko's parents, outright did not think to highly of Koreans, but Akiko, perhaps not consciously, had a more discrete way of seeing Koreans. A big part of Akiko's personality was always to try and go against what she was told or taught. Such as in college, she would propose different viewpoints that would contradict or just present another viewpoint that is not as mainstream. In this quote though, Noa realizes that part of the reason that Akiko is even going out with him is because Japanese women being with Koreans wasn't a popular idea and Akiko tried to stray from those ideas. Akiko wasn't doing it because she thought that everyone was equal or that no one ethnicity was better than another, but because she saw her relationship with No almost like--- as some would say in western cultures--- dating a "bad boy." She wasn't really doing it because she liked Noa for his personality and who he was as a person, but because he was Korean.

    I would say that Akiko and Noa are different in relations with Sunja and Hansu because Sunja was unaware of Hansu's actual intentions with her and his other life, while Akiko knew Noa and be with Akiko for who she was not because she was Japanese. Noa wasn't taking advantage of Akiko like Hansu was to Sunja. 

    I would say that some emotions about colonialism that are being telegraphed in this passage was the fact that, the Japanese still thought of themselves as being superior and better than those they colonialized: the Koreans. In addition, it was looked at negatively, especially by the Japanese, when a Korean and Japanese had a romantic relationship.

Wk.8: Gender Roles

  As a whole, I think that there are a lot of instances where gender plays a big role in how some of the characters see each other as well as how they are treated and expected to act. It seems, from this reading this novel so far, that in the Korean and probably even, for the most part, the Japanese cultures, women are seen as lower than men and thus should always follow what the men in their lives tell them to do.

    For instance, there is a scene in chapter 2 book 2 on page 158, where Sunja has to particularly beg Yoseb for permission to get a job. With Isak in jail, the family would need more money to support itself, but because of traditional gender roles, it was often seen as improper, shameful, and degrading for a woman to do this. But, it seems that, often times, the women in the novel are forced to work outside of traditional domestic roles in order to just be able to sustain their family and keep them from dying. Time and time again it seems that the novel is trying to tell us that, not only was it incredibly hard for a family to just earn enough money to survive, but those women who have gotten ahead and financially provided for their family were the ones who, more or less, survived. 

    Although, I am not entirely sure at this moment what exactly Lee is trying to tell her audience as she creates female characters that work and get jobs outside their home. In part I think these portrayals are supposed to showcase just a forced progression that often mimics that of western societies where the women, at least during this time, could work outside the homes without nearly as much criticism. But, besides this small piece, I am not quite sure the overall point of it at this moment. 

Wk. 8: Seolleongtang

    The quote that I chose was in regards to shine bones being used by Koreans to make soup:

  "[Kyunghee] 'May I please have shinbones and a bit of meat? I'm making soup... Seolleongtang'... [shopkeeper] 'And how do you make this soup?'... [Kyunghee] 'First you wash the bones very carefully in cold water. Then you boil the bones and throw the first batch of water out because it will have all the blood and dirt that you do not want in your broth. Then you boil it again with clean, cold water, then simmer it for a long, long time until broth is white like tofu, then you add daikon, chopped scallions, and salt. It's delicious and very good for your health." (Lee 125-126) 

    Since there was hardly enough money for the Korean to buy meat, they often cooked Seolleongtang in order to provide a healthy meal that doesn't cost as much. The Japanese, on the other hand, find this sort of soup gross. In part, this soup just adds to the Japanese's idea of Koreans being lower than themselves and disgusting. Although I am not sure why making soup out of bones is considered unappealing to the Japanese and wonder if it might just be another small excuse they have created to dislike Koreans.    

    In terms of what message I think Lee might be portraying on this interaction is to one, give the readers who do not know what Seolleongtang is a clearer mental picture of it, as well as, showcase that the Seolleongtang isn't something disgusting that the Japanese make it out to be. But, a proper meal. The Koreans aren't just lowly animals that eat bones, but the way in which Kyunghee describes the process of boiling the soup and taking out the dirty water showcases a sense of civility that the Japanese perhaps refuse to see because they keep trying to think of ways in which they are better than the Koreans.

    What I do wonder though is how long this sort of soup was around/when was it invented? Had it always been a traditional meal or did they start eating it when things started to go south for Korea and Koreans?