If he did not marry her, she was a common slut who would be disgraced forever,” and her child would simply be a “bastard.” She remembers the way her humble father, Hoonie, had cherished her and her mother, and she can’t imagine contenting herself with a pseudo-marriage with Hansu.

But Sunja can’t accept this and is grieved and insulted when he hands her some cash to buy food for herself and the baby: “She had believed that he loved her as she loved him. She is happy to discover she’s carrying his child.įrom Hansu’s point of view, Sunja can simply be his kept woman, enabling him to maintain families in both Japan and Korea. In her experience, men and women are not supposed to be friends, but Hansu isn’t her “sweetheart,” either she assumes this because he never approaches her mother for permission to marry her-“his interest in her did not always make sense.” Nevertheless, his desire for Sunja thrills her, and his stories of foreign travel widen her horizons. When Sunja and Hansu become lovers, naïve young Sunja doesn’t have a category for their relationship. Sunja’s decision to be Hansu’s lover, but also her self-respecting decision to reject the role of being his lifelong mistress, sets in motion the rest of the novel’s events and reveals how women have the power to act with wisdom and strength in the face of hardship. By portraying Sunja as the novel’s heroine, Lee demonstrates that, though it might be true that “a woman’s lot is suffering,” women have the ability and agency to respond to suffering with hard-won strength and wisdom. Sunja’s experiences are emblematic for the book as a whole, since her choices help determine the paths for subsequent generations she never passively submits to her circumstances and continually fights for herself and those she loves. A good man is a decent life, and a bad man is a cursed life-but no matter what, always expect suffering.” This quote encapsulates much that happens to female characters in Pachinko as they go through life-engaging in sexual and romantic relationships, having and relating to their children, and making choices for themselves and on behalf of others.

For a woman, the man you marry will determine the quality of your life completely. You’re becoming a woman now, so you should be told this. The lady tells her, “A woman’s life is endless work and suffering It’s better to expect it, you know.

Early in Pachinko, teenaged Sunja chats with a seaweed seller in the Busan market.

Pachinko book cover