Week 7: Hansu and Isak

     The characters of Hansu and Isak seem to be fulfilling opposite roles in the story. Where Hansu is manipulative and selfish, Isak is caring and selfless. While Hansu is aloof and distant, Isak is reassuring and ever-present for Sunja. It is interesting to see how both interact with her, and what they says about their characters and the society of Korea in the 1930's. 

    Hansu seems to represent a sort of selfish freedom that many of the other characters are economically barred from. Where the boarding house and its lodgers have very little money to get by or make decisions with, Hansu seems to carelessly act and make brash decisions. He has hardly any guilt, as can be seen when he finds out Sunja is pregnant. Most people would probably freak out in that situation, but he seems almost completely unfazed. Hansu does not often think of the consequences his decisions will have on others, as evidenced by his brazen decision to pursue Sunja and take her virginity. Perhaps this is some sort of commentary, since Hansu seems to have abandoned his Korean identity in favor of a more Japanese one.

    Isak is selfless. He makes the difficult decision to father another man's child and take Sunja as his wife, for almost no gain of his own. This is especially impressive considering the time period and the value placed in continuing a bloodline. Him and his family are more traditionally Korean than Hansu, and appear to be suffering financially for it. However, Isak maintains a level of honesty and integrity that Hansu does not. It is hard to say what the story is trying to communicate about these two just yet, since it is still so early on. One big theme is decisions and how they are made and their consequences dealt with, which could be seen in both Hansu and Isak.

Comments

  1. Paulos HabtewoldMarch 1, 2023 at 12:10 AM

    Hi Jalen, I agree with your analysis on the two characters. Hansu has the ability to run back to his money, so there are really no consequences for him. He can easily afford to raise a child and if he does not want to, he can just go back to where his family lives and ignore Sunja. Isak though choses to sacrifice to help others. His plan to marry someone he barely knows because they are in need is insanely selfless.

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