Pachinko: Allusions 5 key examples

As the Korean translation of Moses, “Mozasu” alludes to one of the most important biblical prophets. In the Old Testament, Moses crucially mediates between the Israelites and God. He leads his people out of slavery and codifies the Ten Commandments, setting down the nation’s foundations. In Pachinko’s context, the reference bears special significance—all the more so, as Isak returns from prison. Drawing upon the legacy of biblical narrative, Mozasu’s name creates an expectation that he will uplift his people and give them a collective identity.

To some extent, Mozasu does: the second child shadows Goro, taking over the pachinko business to meet wild success. He becomes a millionaire pachinko parlor owner and transforms the Baek family. In just a single generation, Sunja’s household goes from pawning watches for interest payments to hiring celebrity singers for their child’s birthday party. Mozasu cannot erase the stigmas attached to his Korean identity, but he does create a dramatically better life for his son and parents. Mozasu lives up to his name by opening another chapter for his people.

Daniel Deronda—one of the two main characters in Eliot’s novel—is adopted by a wealthy English aristocrat and subsequently embarks on a journey that leads him to discover his own Jewish identity. As he reconnects with his Jewish heritage, the novel articulates a powerful vision of Jewish nationhood (a vision that has since become rather controversial due to its influence on and engagement with Zionist ideas). After marrying Mirah, Deronda sets sail to the East and learn more about his faith.

Kuroda-san’s lecture on the novel’s Zionist influences coincides with parts of Pachinko’s own engagement with Korean nationalism. The vision of a unified Korea surfaces at various moments in the novel, as Changho leaves Osaka and Yoseb longs to visit his parents. The novel also deliberately draws connections between Deronda’s Jewish status and Noa’s Korean identity—the professor glances at Noa upon mentioning what he deems to be Deronda’s exceptional brilliance as a Jewish person. Unpacking the layers of Daniel Deronda’s plot allows Pachinko to make sense of its own Korean diaspora.

Noa’s favorite novel chronicles a deeply Romantic protagonist who struggles to find a place in society. Werther, The Sorrows of Young Werther’s eponymous main character, falls madly in love with a woman already engaged to another man. Yet he struggles to separate himself from her. Beyond loving her, he spirals in his work at court and loses his reputation while defending a murderer. Werther ends his life with suicide.

While situated in a more distant age, the novel’s broad outlines hold some parallels to Noa’s own. Like Goethe’s tragically sensitive character, Noa drifts through Japanese society and struggles to accept his Korean identity. He runs away from Akiko after she reveals his true connections to Hansu, and he eventually dies by suicide. In many ways, Goethe’s sentimental work anticipates the arc of Noa’s own life.

The novel’s reference to the “son of King David” taps into a wellspring of cultural history. Among other things, Israel’s famously wealthy king established the first Temple in Jerusalem and enlightened the Queen of Sheba with his wisdom. Perhaps most notably, he helped resolve a dispute between two women over possession of a child. Declaring that he would cut the baby in half, King Solomon gave the child over to the woman who exclaimed that she would give him up rather than see him killed.

Some of these biblical accounts track onto Mozasu’s son, who cannot seem to lose at poker and cuts crucial deals at Travis Brothers. True to name, Solomon makes a reputation for his uncanny smarts. He faces a similarly tricky question of division as well; split between his Japanese and Korean identities, Solomon makes the difficult decision of choosing to stay in Japan over leaving for America.

In keeping with his father and grandfather, Solomon also continues the family’s chain of biblically-derived male names. Pachinko’s repeated allusions to the Old Testament help stylize the novel as an epic-like work. By turning to figures in the Old Testament, the novel imports the Bible’s emphasis on ancestors and descendants into its own genealogical account of the Baek family.

The allusion to David Copperfield supplies a fitting backdrop for the moment and, more broadly, for the novel itself. The titular character of David Copperfield—who loses his parents during childhood and at various points lingers around the graveyard—pairs neatly with this moment’s cemetery setting. But Pachinko’s reference resonates with its own plot on a much deeper level as well. Much like Noa, David Copperfield struggles to ascend the ranks of English society. Orphaned and abused, he briefly toils in the wine bottling factory.

Yet unlike Noa, David Copperfield leads the more stereotypical success story. The young man makes his way into English society through hard work, finds success as a writer, and eventually marries the woman of his dreams. Though Noa escapes to start a new life, he shares none of the idyllic closure that David does. The protagonist of David Copperfield reaches a picture-perfect ending through his self-made striving. Noa, on the other hand, kills himself. In this moment, the allusion speaks to a Dickensian class aspiration and fulfillment that is absent from the lives of all too many Korean characters.