Phoebe Character Analysis in Pachinko

Phoebe is Solomon’s girlfriend at Columbia University and moves to Tokyo with him after college. Phoebe is Korean-American. She gets along well with Solomon’s entire family, who hope they’ll get married soon, but struggles to adapt to life in Japan and, as an outsider, chafes at anti-Korean policies and attitudes in a way that Solomon doesn’t. Phoebe breaks up with Solomon after he gets fired and declines to go back to the United States and marry her.

Phoebe Character Timeline in Pachinko

The timeline below shows where the character Phoebe appears in Pachinko. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Identity, Blood, and Contamination Theme Icon

Love, Motherhood, and Women’s Choices Theme Icon

...prostitute, and Etsuko hasn’t been able to track her down. Solomon loves his current girlfriend, Phoebe, but it’s nothing like what he’d felt for Hana. Hana gives him a phone number... (full context)

Imperialism, Resistance, and Compromise Theme Icon

...back in Tokyo, having landed a good job at Travis Brothers, a British investment bank. Phoebe has followed him there, since they’re thinking of getting married. Phoebe is unhappy in Japan... (full context)

One Sunday after church, Solomon and Phoebe visit Solomon’s family. Solomon’s childhood home, which was filled with American furniture when he was... (full context)

Sunja and Kyunghee warmly welcome Phoebe. Phoebe loves being around Solomon’s family, who are more compact than her own scattered family,... (full context)

...been taught that a woman’s life is one of suffering, she doesn’t want that for Phoebe. She thinks it’s a wonderful luxury that they won’t have to worry about war and... (full context)

Phoebe doesn’t answer the phone, so Solomon returns to the hospital to visit Hana again. Hana... (full context)

Phoebe seems almost “unruffled” by the news of Solomon’s firing. She tells Solomon that she’d never... (full context)

Solomon had loved Phoebe’s confidence when they were at Columbia, but against the backdrop of Japan, she just seems... (full context)