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Book 1, Chapter 4
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Pachinko, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Survival and Family
Imperialism, Resistance, and Compromise
Identity, Blood, and Contamination
Love, Motherhood, and Women’s Choices
Summary
Analysis
The next market day, Sunja thanks Hansu, and he asks her to meet him on the beach where she does the laundry. He tells Sunja she can call him Oppa (older brother). He asks her about her life and tells her about his childhood; Hansu grew up very poor and had to forage and steal to keep himself and his alcoholic father alive. Sunja and Hansu make plans to meet every third day when Sunja’s doing the laundry. Sunja feels like everything has changed.
Hansu is already familiar with Sunja’s weekly routine, something she naïvely accepts. By using endearments and confiding in her, Hansu forges a sense of intimacy between the two of them. Like Sunja’s family, Hansu is familiar with being in need, but unlike them, he has stolen to survive. Sunja has never received this kind of romantic attention from a man before and takes Hansu’s behavior toward her at face value.
Themes
For three months, Sunja and Hansu continue meeting on the beach every wash day, and Hansu tells her stories of his travels and brings her gifts from abroad. Sunja enjoys having someone to talk to about her life and is surprised by the sparks of attraction she feels. One day in the fall, Yangjin sends Sunja to pick mushrooms in the forest. Hansu asks to come along, since he’s good at finding edible mushrooms. As they walk in the woods, Hansu tells Sunja, “You want to see a very bad man? Make an ordinary man successful beyond his imagination. Let’s see how good he is when he can do whatever he wants.”
Hansu patiently stokes Sunja’s affections, and Sunja, never having had a confidant before, develops genuine feelings for Hansu. She doesn’t know what to make of the new feelings she’s experiencing. On another note, Hansu’s words about success and wickedness foreshadow later developments in his own character.
Themes
Sunja is puzzled by their outing and by Hansu’s continued interest in her, since Hansu seems like neither a friend nor a “sweetheart.” After they have gathered mushrooms, Hansu begins touching her underneath her clothes, and Sunja lets him undress her. They have sex, and Sunja is shocked by how much it hurts. Hansu comforts her and calls her his “dear girl.”
Though Sunja lets Hansu do what he likes, she feels conflicted about it and is confused as to the nature of their relationship.
Themes
