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Chapter 18
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Girl with Seven Names, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Oppression, Human Rights, and North Korea
Identity and Nationality
Family
Kindness
Summary
Analysis
Hyeonseo opens the door to Mr. Ahn’s house and bows. It takes him a moment to realize who she is, but then he invites her inside. He is a large man with big eyes and a bald head, and Hyeonseo explains that she is on her way to visit relatives in Shenyang. Mr. Ahn immediately knows that Hyeonseo has no idea what she is doing. Shenyang is over eight hours away, and there are many checkpoints along the way. Illegal North Koreans found in China are turned over to the Bowibu, he says.
Hyeonseo’s ignorance of just how far Shenyang is from Changbai reflects her general ignorance of the outside world and her repressed existence inside North Korea. North Korean children aren’t taught about the world through subjects such as geography or history, so she knows nothing about China, even though she really does have relatives there.
Themes
Hyeonseo can tell that Mr. Ahn is not rich, but there is plenty of food, and he invites her to stay the night and agrees to help her get to Shenyang. The next morning, he shows Hyeonseo around Changbai, and gives her warm winter boots and a winter coat. As they leave the city and Hyesan disappears from view, Hyeonseo thinks of her mother and the promise she made the night before not to stay out too late.
Mr. Ahn is exceedingly kind to Hyeonseo, even though it is highly illegal in China to aid North Korean defectors in any way. Mr. Ahn is proof there is kindness in the world, even though Hyeonseo is taught in North Korea that kindness amounts to little more than a good way to get punished or killed.
Themes
