Ahjuhma/The Woman Character Analysis

Ahjuhma is a young Korean woman who moves to the United States when Henry’s father hires her to work as a housekeeper in the wake of Henry’s mother’s death. Henry doesn’t know much about her, since she seems to spend the vast majority of her time in the kitchen. When he comes home from college, though, he realizes that Ahjuhma and his father have developed a close relationship and sometimes sleep together, though their bond has more to do with companionship than romance. Later, Henry visits his father’s home every summer with Lelia and Mitt, and Lelia takes an interest in Ahjuhma—whose real name isn’t actually “Ahjuhma.” One night, Lelia asks Henry what her name is, and she’s appalled to learn that he doesn’t know. She sees this as a sign that Henry doesn’t think his father’s housekeeper is worthy of respect, but the real reason he doesn’t know her name is that there would never be a context in the Korean language for him to call her anything but “Ahjuhma,” which means “aunt” or “ma’am” and is what Korean people call women who aren’t related to them. Ahjuhma’s presence in the novel serves as a reminder of the differing cultural values between Korean and American society.