Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Pachinko, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Survival and Family
Imperialism, Resistance, and Compromise
Identity, Blood, and Contamination
Love, Motherhood, and Women’s Choices
Summary
Analysis
Isak had grown up with serious illnesses and hadn’t expected much of a future; simply graduating from seminary had been an unexpected milestone. Isak’s older brother, Samoel, had been badly beaten by colonial police after a Korean independence protest and died of his injuries. The outcome of these events is that Isak has been “almost inured to death” and believes that he must live a brave life in honor of his brother.
After a lifetime of being viewed as an invalid and living in the shadow of a heroic older brother, Isak doesn’t cling tightly to his own survival and wants to make an impact with whatever time he has. The Korean independence movement of 1919, also known as the March First Movement, was brutally suppressed by imperial police and military, resulting in thousands of deaths.
Themes
Isak goes to meet with Pastor Shin, the pastor of a nearby church. They talk about Isak’s impending journey to Osaka, where he’ll work at a church, and the colonial government’s crackdown on churches here in Korea. Changing the subject, Isak asks if they might discuss the Old Testament book of Hosea. In this book of the Bible, God makes the prophet Hosea marry a harlot and be a father to her children. The pastors discuss the fact that the story symbolizes God’s enduring love for his children, even when they are most difficult to love.
The Japanese colonial government is unfriendly to Korean Christians, but this feels secondary to Isak right now. He obviously has some practical questions in mind—relating, it seems, to the pregnant Sunja—and is appealing to a beloved biblical story in order to make his case to his fellow pastor.
Themes
Isak tells Pastor Shin about Yangjin and Sunja’s sacrificial care for him while he was suffering from tuberculosis and also explains Sunja’s plight. He says that he wants to propose to Sunja, and if she says yes, he wants Pastor Shin to marry them before they go to Japan. He has decided that providing Sunja and her baby with a name is the one thing Isak can do for them. Pastor Shin, whose ideals have cooled since losing his wife and four of his children to cholera, feels incredulous. If he hadn’t heard such good things about Isak, he would think the man a “religious lunatic.”
Isak barely knows Sunja, so his gesture is a bold and risky one. Even his fellow pastor, disillusioned by personal suffering and political pressure, thinks Isak is terribly naïve. But in a context where Sunja and her baby would effectively be outcasts because of Sunja’s lack of a husband, Isak’s offer might be their best hope for a relatively normal life.
Themes
Isak tells Pastor Shin that he had been studying Hosea the morning before Yangjin spoke to him, and that he believes God is calling him to take this step. He hopes that his life can be important, perhaps not on a grand scale like Samoel’s, but that he can still help a few people. Though Shin has reservations, he sees that Isak won’t be dissuaded, and he agrees to meet with Sunja and her mother.
Pastor Shin isn’t convinced that Isak’s Bible study and subsequent conversation with Yangjin aren’t just coincidence. However, he recognizes Isak’s urge to make his life count, if only on a small scale, and he knows that Sunja will be in an incredibly vulnerable position without Isak’s help.
Themes
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