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.
I wrote my blog post on the family, too! I think family presents itself as an alternative to societal acceptance. Where society is plagued with racism, sexism, and homophobia, family (in theory) is often more accepting and even shares the experience of discrimination (usually race-based), which allows us to overcome any racism or any desire to fit in, like Noa had. It's a really important part of the novel, and one of the few things that didn't seem cynical about the end.
ReplyDeleteI also noticed that the novel was progressing more and more to modern day western gender roles and relationships. I liked the example you brought up using Hoonie's and Sunja's relationship. Another aspect that was being westernized were the gender roles, in particular, working as a woman. Mozasu seems to be fine with Yumi working, except when bid ridden, while Yoseb did not want Kyunghee working at all.
ReplyDeleteHey Monique, I agree with you that one of Lee's motives for writing Pachinko was to address the misrepresentation of Korean people in western societies. You bring up a good point that western values infiltrate into the younger generations more in the book. I agree that the world is changing during the time period of the book and western values are replacing more traditional Asian family values.
ReplyDeleteHi Monique! I think what you said about family is really interesting and something that I hadn't really thought of before. In a similar fashion to Jalen's post, I didn't realize that the characters in the family had drifted as much as they did and I'm really happy you pointed this out. I also liked how you pointed out how western culture slowly became more prevalent in the story. I'm not sure if this was became society began advancing as the time went on or if it was due to another reason.
ReplyDeleteHey Monique! I completely agree with your interpretation of "Pachinko." I think Min Jin Lee's novel is an important work that sheds light on the underrepresented history and culture of Korea and Japan. The portrayal of the importance of family is a powerful theme throughout the novel, and it's interesting to see how the newer generations are becoming more individualistic as they embrace more Western ideas. It's also eye-opening to see how the dominance of Western cultures and societies is influencing other cultures, and how even with the slow integration of Western ideas, there are still negative attitudes towards Koreans in Japan.
ReplyDeleteHi Monique! I think you did an amazing job of analyzing the lessons in "Pachinko"! I really agree with the fact that we can see the effects of Western influence on Sunja and her family, especially in terms of dating and relationships. While being able to choose the person she loves gives her a lot more personal power, it also makes her life more complicated in the sense that these huge decisions are no longer made for her.
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