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Chapter 9
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in A Single Shard, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Found Family
Pride and Work
Art
Bravery
Honesty
Summary
Analysis
The morning Tree-ear leaves, Min gives him a string of coins to buy food and touches his shoulder momentarily, startling Tree-ear. Ajima gives him a bag of rice cakes as well as treats in the form of dried fruit. For six days, Tree-ear walks from village to village, often receiving food and hospitality from villagers. But then he has to spend the night in a mountain forest, away from other people. He beds down by two large boulders and builds a fire. After he eats, he forms a little piece of clay into a turtle until it gets dark.
When Min puts his hand on Tree-ear’s shoulder briefly before Tree-ear leaves, it suggests that he cares about Tree-ear despite himself. Ajima’s gift of dried fruit—the 12th-century equivalent of candy—shows her motherly desire to give Tree-ear treats on his arduous journey. Thus, both Min and Ajima reveal quasi-parental feelings for Tree-ear as he leaves them on his journey.
Themes
In the night, a strange noise wakes Tree-ear. Assuming it’s a wild animal, he shoves his pack into an opening between the two boulders and struggles in after it to hide. There he waits, terrified. When a fox comes into view, Tree-ear is convinced that the fox will enchant him out of his hiding place and eat him. He shuts his eyes to protect himself from the fox’s magic gaze. When, after a long time, he opens them, the fox is gone—but he decides the fox might be lying in wait, so he stays cramped in his hiding space. When he awakes the next morning, he realizes that he fell asleep in hiding and survived the fox. He laughs joyously, thinking that people are afraid of the unknown and wanting to discuss this idea with Crane-man.
The appearance of the fox on Tree-ear’s journey is a clear callback to the fox that prevented Crane-man from sheltering in a monastery. Whereas Crane-man was arguably brave to abandon his journey to the monastery and live independently after encountering the fox, Tree-ear is brave to wait out the fox and continue his journey—showing that what counts as brave depends on an individual’s context. Here, the fox becomes a symbol for Crane-man’s and Tree-ear’s different examples of bravery in different contexts. Meanwhile, Tree-ear’s desire to discuss fear of the unknown with Crane-man shows how much he loves Crane-man and relies on talking with Crane-man to understand the world.
Themes
Crane-Man suggested that Tree-ear stop in a city called Puyo to see a landmark called “Rock of the Falling Flowers,” where the concubines of the king of the Paekche kingdom, along with their female servants, jumped off a cliff rather than be taken captive and tortured by the invading T’ang Chinese army. Now the cliff from which they jumped is a monument inspiring people who need bravery. Tree-ear, admiring the women, wants to go see the rock and tell Crane-man about it when he gets home.
Here the novel provides yet another example of arguably brave behavior: the concubines who chose to die rather than be captured by the enemy. Readers may disagree about whether death or survival in captivity requires more bravery. Regardless, Tree-ear’s desire to see the monument so that he can tell Crane-man about it emphasizes yet again the two characters’ tight emotional bond.
Themes
When Tree-ear reaches Puyo, he sees a pottery stall selling celadon ware with inlay work. Shocked to realize that Kang’s innovation has already reached Puyo, Tree-ear thinks that he needs to get Min’s vases to Songdo as soon as possible.
This passage reveals how quickly an artistic innovation can spread—and thereby suggests another reason why artistic execution is as important as, or more important than, originality: an original idea will soon be disseminated widely, and then whoever does it best will be the most celebrated.
Themes
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