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Chapter 6
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
After two days—in which Min rejects most of the pots he makes as not good enough and yells at Tree-ear a lot—Min finally asks Tree-ear whether Tree-ear plans to tell him about “it.” Tree-ear knows that Min is asking about Kang’s display, which Min didn’t see. Tree-ear, who believes that Kang’s innovation is free for the taking now that Kang has showed it to everyone, describes Kang’s inlay method using red and white slip—but calls Kang’s etchings ugly. Min, laughing harshly, agrees that Kang is a sloppy potter and orders Tree-ear to go fetch white and red clay. Tree-ear excitedly runs to the clay pits.
Tree-ear held off telling Min about Kang’s innovation while it was still a secret out of respect for honesty. Now that Kang’s innovation is public, he feels free to discuss it with Min. Yet despite Tree-ear’s scrupulous attempts to be honest, he still calls Kang’s etchings ugly to Min despite having admitted to himself that they were beautiful. This suggests that Tree-ear is being accidentally dishonest because he respects Min’s hard work and artistry and wants to please him, knowing that Min must be feeling competitive with Kang.
Themes
Over the next few days, Min works hard on planning inlay designs. Meanwhile, Tree-ear drains clay. On the fifth sieving of one batch, he suddenly knows—though he can’t explain to himself how—that the clay needs to be drained again. At last, Min picks out an inlay design and carefully starts etching a melon-shaped vase. Tree-ear appreciates that Min’s etchings are more beautiful than Kang’s. A few days after, Min comes to check on Tree-ear’s draining. Once Min has felt the slip, he simply says, “You took long enough.” Tree-ear is overjoyed; Min has never accepted his draining work without further revisions before.
In previous scenes, Tree-ear has been unable to tell the difference between clay drainages after the third drainage or so. In this scene, he has a breakthrough: he suddenly realizes when subsequent drainages are necessary for the clay. This breakthrough represents the refinement of Tree-ear’s innate aesthetic sensibility through hard and apparently unrewarding work. Meanwhile, Tree-ear’s recognition that Min’s carefully planned inlay designs are more beautiful than Kang’s indicates that Min’s prideful hard work makes him the better artist.
Themes
Min makes five versions of the etched melon vase. Finally, they are ready to be fired. Firing takes days; while normally Min would fire his work in multiple batches in case one firing goes wrong, he only has time for a single batch before Emissary Kim returns. Min stays next to the kiln throughout the firing process. Tree-ear brings him food, but often he doesn’t eat. At night, when Tree-ear returns home, Crane-man tells him stories. On the evening when Min at last removes the vases from the kiln, it is too late and dark to see whether the glaze came out properly, so Min and Tree-ear take the vases back to the house in ignorance of the results.
The multiple versions that Min makes of the etched melon vase, as well as the acknowledgement that Min would usually fire multiple batches of vases, underscore how hard Min works to create just one perfect vase. Unfortunately, the deadline that Emissary Kim’s impending return has created for Min means that Min can’t fully complete his usual perfectionistic process, which may foreshadow that something will go wrong.
Themes
When Tree-ear arrives home, he has a sudden sense of clarity like he did with the drained slip: the meager but neat domestic arrangement of Crane-man’s things under the bridge look different to him. Abruptly, he asks why Crane-man didn’t go live in the temple with the monks when he became homeless—the thing that desperate people usually do. Crane-man, amused and embarrassed, explains that a fox kept him away from the temple. Tree-ear shivers: foxes are feared, and some people believe they have “evil magic.” Crane-man explains that when he was walking to the temple, a fox blocked his path—so he went to sleep under the bridge for the night and just ended up staying.
Readers could interpret Crane-man’s story as evidence of Crane-man’s cowardice: his fear of the fox prevented him from doing the sensible thing, that is, going to live in the monastery. On the other hand, readers could interpret it as evidence of Crane-man’s ultimate bravery: though he was alone and disabled, he took the fox as a sign that he should live independently—and managed to do so despite many obstacles. At this point, the story is ambiguous—and the fox is an ambiguous symbol of either cowardice or bravery.
Themes
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The next morning, Min’s wife meets Tree-ear as he walks toward Min’s house and tells him to go get more clay. Tree-ear starts walking toward the clay pits—but then, curious, sneaks around the back of the house, where he finds the etched melon vases smashed to pieces. When Tree-ear examines the shards, he finds that the inlay work is perfect but the glaze was ruined by a bad firing. Min must have smashed the ruined vases himself. Tree-ear, devastated, grips a shard so tightly he cuts himself. Emissary Kim could be back at any moment!
Previous passages in the novel have made clear that the potters have limited control over the success of firings, which is why Min makes multiple copies of every pot and usually fires the copies in multiple batches. Min could have kept the imperfectly fired vases as evidence of his perfect inlay work—but he smashed them because they weren’t perfect overall. Min’s incredibly high standards show the pride he takes in his work—but if he can’t finish another batch of vases by the time Emissary Kim returns, his pride will be self-sabotaging.
Themes
