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Book 1, Chapter 17
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 story jumps ahead six years. It is 1939, and World War II is underway. Yoseb arrives home from work one Saturday with a bag of taffy and calls for six-year-old Noa, who doesn’t appear. He searches the house and finds it empty. Finally he walks to church and finds a group of middle-aged women fervently praying. They tell Yoseb that Isak, Pastor Yoo, and Hu have been arrested. Hu had been caught mouthing the Lord’s Prayer during that morning’s mandatory Shinto shrine ceremony.
Isak and Sunja’s family has grown, and Yoseb has even occupied a fatherly role toward young Noa. Lately, however, Christians have been under increased pressure, required by the imperial government to honor the Emperor in Shinto ceremonies. Young Hu interprets these ceremonies as idolatrous and quietly resists, implicating the pastors as well.
Themes
Yoseb finds Noa sitting on the steps of the police station, holding his month-old brother, baby Mozasu. Inside, Sunja is weeping; she and Kyunghee aren’t allowed to see Isak. Yoseb wonders why Hu made such a fuss about the compulsory ceremony. He speaks respectfully to the police officer at the front desk, explaining that Isak has just recovered from tuberculosis. The officer, thinking that “Koreans caused trouble, then made excuses,” encourages the family to go home, since Isak will likely be detained for a long time.
Though Yoseb is a Christian, too, he can’t understand why Hu would risk his own and others’ safety by resisting what Yoseb sees as a harmlessly symbolic ceremony. He tries to show the police that he’s reasonable, but the officer stereotypes him as just another “troublemaking” Korean.
Themes
Yoseb thinks that he “didn’t see the point of anyone dying for his country or for some greater ideal. He understood survival and family.” He and the family go home and speculate about what to do. They wonder how long Isak can survive in prison. They can take clothes and food to the jail the next morning, but they realize that, otherwise, they’re on their own.
Having worked hard to support his family for all these years, Yoseb sees dying for ideals as a foolish waste—a contrast to his own brother, Samoel’s, sacrifice for Korean independence. Isak is still sickly, and the family worries that he’ll fare even worse than the average prisoner in wartime conditions.
Themes
