Pachinko

Pachinko

by

Min Jin Lee

Solomon Baek Character Analysis

Solomon is Mozasu’s and Yumi’s son. After Yumi’s death, he is raised by Mozasu, his grandmother Sunja, and Mozasu’s girlfriend Etsuko. Mozasu dreams of his son becoming a “man of the world” and sends him to English-speaking schools and Columbia University. Because Solomon has always socialized with Americans and other Westerners, he’s sometimes chattier and more open in public than a typical Japanese or Korean person. When he’s 14, he falls in love with Hana, Etsuko’s daughter. At Columbia, he dates Phoebe, who’s Korean-American, but they break up after Phoebe fails to adjust to life in Tokyo and Solomon won’t propose marriage. Solomon gets a good job with the Tokyo branch of a British investment bank, but he’s fired after Mozasu’s and Goro’s yakuza ties contaminate a critical real estate transaction. With the encouragement of Hana, whom he still loves, Solomon then goes to work for his father’s pachinko company.

Solomon Baek Quotes in Pachinko

The Pachinko quotes below are all either spoken by Solomon Baek or refer to Solomon 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 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 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

Solomon Baek Quotes in Pachinko

The Pachinko quotes below are all either spoken by Solomon Baek or refer to Solomon 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 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 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: