Pachinko

Pachinko

by

Min Jin Lee

Mozasu Baek Character Analysis

Six years younger than Noa, Mozasu is Sunja’s and Isak’s only surviving biological child. Unlike his scholarly, obedient brother, Mozasu beats up anyone who mocks his Korean ethnicity. When he’s 16, Mozasu gets a job in Goro’s pachinko parlor in order to stay off the streets, and he quickly distinguishes himself in Osaka’s pachinko industry. He becomes manager of his own parlor by the time he’s 20 and eventually becomes a millionaire parlor owner in Yokohama, though he strives to be honest and avoid darker yakuza ties. Mozasu meets Yumi at Totoyama’s uniform shop, and they begin dating; he ultimately proposes to her in John Maryman’s English class. They have one son, Solomon, whom Mozasu raises as a single father after Yumi dies. Mozasu sends Solomon to Western schools, dreaming that he’ll be an “international man of the world” and work for an American company. When Solomon is a teenager, Mozasu begins dating Etsuko Nagatomi, though she never consents to marry him. At the end of the book, Solomon asks for a job in Mozasu’s pachinko company.

Mozasu Baek Quotes in Pachinko

The Pachinko quotes below are all either spoken by Mozasu Baek or refer to Mozasu Baek. 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:
Survival and Family Theme Icon
).
Book 2, Chapter 10 Quotes

Mozasu knew he was becoming one of the bad Koreans. Police officers often arrested Koreans for stealing or home brewing. Every week, someone on his street got in trouble with the police. Noa would say that because some Koreans broke the law, everyone got blamed. On every block in Ikaino, there was a man who beat his wife, and there were girls who worked in bars who were said to take money for favors. Noa said that Koreans had to raise themselves up by working harder and being better. Mozasu just wanted to hit everyone who said mean things.

Related Characters: Noa Baek, Mozasu Baek
Page Number: 243
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 2, Chapter 17 Quotes

Mozasu couldn’t imagine being so quiet all the time; he would miss the bustle of the pachinko parlor. He loved all the moving pieces of his large, noisy business. His Presbyterian minister father had believed in a divine design, and Mozasu believed that life was like this game where the player could adjust the dials yet also expect the uncertainty of factors he couldn’t control. He understood why his customers wanted to play something that looked fixed but which also left room for randomness and hope.

Related Characters: Baek Isak, Mozasu Baek, Yumi
Related Symbols: Pachinko
Page Number: 292
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 3, Chapter 9 Quotes

“It is hopeless. I cannot change his fate. He is Korean. He has to get those papers, and he has to follow all the steps of the law perfectly. Once, at a ward office, a clerk told me that I was a guest in his country.”

“You and Solomon were born here.”

“Yes, my brother, Noa, was born here, too. And now he is dead.” Mozasu covered his face with his hands.

Etsuko sighed.

“Anyway, the clerk was not wrong. And this is something Solomon must understand. We can be deported. We have no motherland. Life is full of things he cannot control so he must adapt. My boy has to survive.”

Related Characters: Mozasu Baek (speaker), Etsuko Nagatomi (speaker), Noa Baek, Solomon Baek
Page Number: 395
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 3, Chapter 11 Quotes

Why did her family think pachinko was so terrible? Her father, a traveling salesman, had sold expensive life insurance policies to isolated housewives who couldn’t afford them, and Mozasu created spaces where grown men and women could play pinball for money. Both men had made money from chance and fear and loneliness. Every morning, Mozasu and his men tinkered with the machines to fix the outcomes—there could only be a few winners and a lot of losers. And yet we played on, because we had hope that we might be the lucky ones. How could you get angry at the ones who wanted to be in the game? Etsuko had failed in this important way—she had not taught her children to hope, to believe in the perhaps absurd possibility that they might win. Pachinko was a foolish game, but life was not.

Related Characters: Mozasu Baek, Etsuko Nagatomi
Related Symbols: Pachinko
Page Number: 406
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 3, Chapter 20 Quotes

“Japan will never change. […] The zainichi can’t leave, nee? But it’s not just you. Japan will never take people like my mother back into society again; it will never take back people like me. And we’re Japanese! I’m diseased. I got this from some Japanese guy who owned an old trading company. He’s dead now. But nobody cares. The doctors here, even, they just want me to go away. So listen, Solomon, you should stay here and not go back to the States, and you should take over your papa’s business. Become so rich that you can do whatever you want. But, my beautiful Solomon, they’re never going to think we’re okay. Do you know what I mean?” Hana stared at him. “Do what I tell you to do.”

Related Characters: Hana (speaker), Mozasu Baek, Solomon Baek
Related Symbols: Pachinko
Page Number: 462
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Pachinko LitChart as a printable PDF.
Pachinko PDF

Mozasu Baek Quotes in Pachinko

The Pachinko quotes below are all either spoken by Mozasu Baek or refer to Mozasu Baek. 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:
Survival and Family Theme Icon
).
Book 2, Chapter 10 Quotes

Mozasu knew he was becoming one of the bad Koreans. Police officers often arrested Koreans for stealing or home brewing. Every week, someone on his street got in trouble with the police. Noa would say that because some Koreans broke the law, everyone got blamed. On every block in Ikaino, there was a man who beat his wife, and there were girls who worked in bars who were said to take money for favors. Noa said that Koreans had to raise themselves up by working harder and being better. Mozasu just wanted to hit everyone who said mean things.

Related Characters: Noa Baek, Mozasu Baek
Page Number: 243
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 2, Chapter 17 Quotes

Mozasu couldn’t imagine being so quiet all the time; he would miss the bustle of the pachinko parlor. He loved all the moving pieces of his large, noisy business. His Presbyterian minister father had believed in a divine design, and Mozasu believed that life was like this game where the player could adjust the dials yet also expect the uncertainty of factors he couldn’t control. He understood why his customers wanted to play something that looked fixed but which also left room for randomness and hope.

Related Characters: Baek Isak, Mozasu Baek, Yumi
Related Symbols: Pachinko
Page Number: 292
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 3, Chapter 9 Quotes

“It is hopeless. I cannot change his fate. He is Korean. He has to get those papers, and he has to follow all the steps of the law perfectly. Once, at a ward office, a clerk told me that I was a guest in his country.”

“You and Solomon were born here.”

“Yes, my brother, Noa, was born here, too. And now he is dead.” Mozasu covered his face with his hands.

Etsuko sighed.

“Anyway, the clerk was not wrong. And this is something Solomon must understand. We can be deported. We have no motherland. Life is full of things he cannot control so he must adapt. My boy has to survive.”

Related Characters: Mozasu Baek (speaker), Etsuko Nagatomi (speaker), Noa Baek, Solomon Baek
Page Number: 395
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 3, Chapter 11 Quotes

Why did her family think pachinko was so terrible? Her father, a traveling salesman, had sold expensive life insurance policies to isolated housewives who couldn’t afford them, and Mozasu created spaces where grown men and women could play pinball for money. Both men had made money from chance and fear and loneliness. Every morning, Mozasu and his men tinkered with the machines to fix the outcomes—there could only be a few winners and a lot of losers. And yet we played on, because we had hope that we might be the lucky ones. How could you get angry at the ones who wanted to be in the game? Etsuko had failed in this important way—she had not taught her children to hope, to believe in the perhaps absurd possibility that they might win. Pachinko was a foolish game, but life was not.

Related Characters: Mozasu Baek, Etsuko Nagatomi
Related Symbols: Pachinko
Page Number: 406
Explanation and Analysis:
Book 3, Chapter 20 Quotes

“Japan will never change. […] The zainichi can’t leave, nee? But it’s not just you. Japan will never take people like my mother back into society again; it will never take back people like me. And we’re Japanese! I’m diseased. I got this from some Japanese guy who owned an old trading company. He’s dead now. But nobody cares. The doctors here, even, they just want me to go away. So listen, Solomon, you should stay here and not go back to the States, and you should take over your papa’s business. Become so rich that you can do whatever you want. But, my beautiful Solomon, they’re never going to think we’re okay. Do you know what I mean?” Hana stared at him. “Do what I tell you to do.”

Related Characters: Hana (speaker), Mozasu Baek, Solomon Baek
Related Symbols: Pachinko
Page Number: 462
Explanation and Analysis: