Pachinko: Book 3, Chapter 21 Summary & Analysis

Phoebe seems almost “unruffled” by the news of Solomon’s firing. She tells Solomon that she’d never liked Kazu’s phony, fraternity boy act. Solomon thinks she’s just prejudiced against the Japanese. Phoebe asks if they can move back to the United States; she hints that there are multiple ways to get citizenship. When Solomon doesn’t respond, she immediately starts packing.

Solomon had loved Phoebe’s confidence when they were at Columbia, but against the backdrop of Japan, she just seems aloof, and her emotional extremes seem too stark. He’s also tired of her obsession with Japan’s historical evils. Many of the most significant people in Solomon’s life have been Japanese—Etsuko, Hana, and Haruki. In a way, he feels Japanese himself; there’s “more to being something than just blood.” Phoebe will never understand this, so they have to break up.

Solomon goes to his father’s office and says that he wants to work for him. Mozasu is shocked; he’d sent Solomon to Columbia so that this wouldn’t happen. He has never wanted anyone to look down on his son. Mozasu thought that people would respect him if he became rich. He doesn’t want Solomon to have to fight for respect in that way. But Solomon picks up a ledger from Mozasu’s desk and asks him to explain it. Finally, Mozasu does.

Sunja, who’s now 73, still dreams about Hansu and wishes she’d forgotten him by now. She also still visits Isak’s grave, finding him more approachable in death than in life. The week after Solomon is fired, she takes the train to Osaka to clean Isak’s grave and speak to him. As she sits crying next to his grave, the groundskeeper, Uchida, comes over to talk to her. He tells Sunja that Noa used to visit Isak’s grave, right up until 1978. He is sad to hear that Noa is dead. He says that Noa used to bring him copies of Charles Dickens’s works in translation and had even offered to send him to school. He encourages Sunja to attend night school so that she can learn to read, too. Sunja smiles at him, then finishes cleaning the grave and goes home to Kyunghee.