Comfort vs. Opportunity
In Korea, Sunja was comfortable. She had her mother and girls who saw her as sisters, and she was close to the graves of her family. She was well-regarded by her neighbors, and while her family was never well-off, they were in a good place considering the circumstances. However, there was nowhere to go. Being pregnant and unmarried, Sunja had no future prospects and would likely end up exactly like her mother: overworked and hoping her child lives a better life than her. In addition, Korea's worsening under Japanese imperialism was only making the situation worse. Korea had her past, but no chance at a future.
Japan, on the other hand, is the opposite of comfortable. With practically no income and conditions that are poor at best, the living situation is far worse than at home. Adding to that her pregnancy and husband who she doesn't love, it is safe to say that Japan is not ideal. However, Japan is where Sunja can have a future. With a husband and opportunities to make money, Japan offers Sunja and her child more of a future than Korea ever can. This is why, despite the sacrifices she made, Japan was truly the only option for her.
I completely agree on the point that Korea was Sunja's childhood, but Japan was her future. In addition, I think that Basan and the people she was raised by and with provided her with the skills to thrive in Japan. In many of the chapters, we see how her mother and father's voices guide her in many of the things she does in Japan.
ReplyDeleteYou've highlighted important distinctions between the two locations we've read about so far in the novel. I can also see why Sunja would feel more comfortable at Busan, but I acknowledge that her future opportunities would be limited. Hopefully Osaka provides Sunja a better life than Busan.
ReplyDeleteI really like some of the internal conflicts and decisions that Sunja would have had to made that you touched upon, because I think it really reflects the decision that many immigrants nowadays must make, and creates an understanding for their position and the hard decisions that they must make themselves in order to take the best course of action for the future of their family and children.
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