The Ggeh (The “Money Club”) Symbol Analysis

In Native Speaker, the concept of a ggeh, or a Korean “money club,” symbolizes the power that can arise when community members come together and support each other. Henry’s father, for instance, is able to open his first grocery store because he belongs to a small ggeh, to which he and other Korean men contribute money on a rolling basis with the knowledge that—at some point—they will receive a large amount for themselves. This system enables Henry’s father and his fellow Korean immigrants to fund their business ventures and become successful in the United States—something they might not have been able to do without the communal approach to funding.

As somebody who understands how powerful and productive it can be to unite a community in this way, John Kwang establishes a large-scale ggeh for any of his constituents who want to participate, thus bringing the Korean tradition to other racial and ethnic groups living in Queens. At first, it works quite well, giving his constituents something resembling financial stability in times of need. However, the ggeh soon attracts suspicion from the government, which disapproves of the concept because it doesn’t report earnings to the tax authorities. Through Glimmer & Company (and, in turn, through Henry), the Immigration and Naturalization Service ends up obtaining the list of people who belong to the ggeh, and it uses this list as a way of identifying and deporting undocumented immigrants. The ggeh therefore comes to represent not just the power of unity and communal support, but also the unfortunate fact that Americans in positions of power are often deeply suspicious of foreign practices and traditions that empower new Americans.