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Seon-ju
Seong-hee is a prominent labor activist in the 1970s, as well as a close friend (and mentor) to Seon-ju. By the 1990s, Seong-hee has become a hero to progressive South Koreans like Park Yeong-ho, largely because of her radical organizing tactics (which include large-scale sit-ins and having young women strip naked in protest). Seong-hee frequently pushes Seon-ju to tell the story of her experience in the Gwangju uprisings, and Seon-ju feels that Seong-hee is judging her. By the end of Seon-ju’s narrative, Seong-hee and Seon-ju are estranged, and Seong-hee is in the hospital, aware that death is likely on the horizon.
Seong-hee Quotes in Human Acts
The Human Acts quotes below are all either spoken by Seong-hee or refer to Seong-hee. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 5: The Factory Girl, 2002
Quotes
If I demanded that you go home, Dong-ho; if I’d begged, while we sat there eating gimbap, you would have done as I asked, wouldn’t you?
And that’s why you’re coming to me now.
To ask why I’m still alive.
You walk, your eyes red rim seeming carved with some keen blade. Hurrying back to the bright lights of the emergency department.
There’s only one thing for me to say to you, onni.
If you’ll allow me to.
If you'll please allow me.
[…] As you walk along the straight white line that follows the center of the road, you raise your head to the falling rain.
Don’t die.
Just don’t die.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Human Acts LitChart as a printable PDF.
Seong-hee Quotes in Human Acts
The Human Acts quotes below are all either spoken by Seong-hee or refer to Seong-hee. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 5: The Factory Girl, 2002
Quotes
If I demanded that you go home, Dong-ho; if I’d begged, while we sat there eating gimbap, you would have done as I asked, wouldn’t you?
And that’s why you’re coming to me now.
To ask why I’m still alive.
You walk, your eyes red rim seeming carved with some keen blade. Hurrying back to the bright lights of the emergency department.
There’s only one thing for me to say to you, onni.
If you’ll allow me to.
If you'll please allow me.
[…] As you walk along the straight white line that follows the center of the road, you raise your head to the falling rain.
Don’t die.
Just don’t die.
Related Characters:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
