Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Girl with Seven Names, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Oppression, Human Rights, and North Korea
Identity and Nationality
Family
Kindness
Summary
Analysis
Hyeonseo has been on her own in Xita for nearly four years now, and she has finally saved enough money to hire a broker to get word to Mother and Min-ho in Hyesan. She decides to go back to Changbai and hopes Mr. Ahn still lives in the same house, but before she does, Hyeonseo meets a friendly Korean-Chinese businessman at the restaurant in Xita. In a moment of weakness, Hyeonseo tells him she is desperate to find her family in North Korea. The man says he has a contact in North Korea and offers to help, and Hyeonseo decides it can’t hurt to keep the man’s contact as a backup plan, but this, too, turns out be a huge mistake.
The implication that Hyeonseo’s connection to the Korean-Chinese businessman and his broker is a huge mistake foreshadows upcoming trouble, which further underscores the oppression of the North Korean people, even in China. Hyeonseo must go to great lengths to talk to her family and this again illustrates the hardships North Koreans face even for the most basic rights, like access to one’s family and country. However, Hyeonseo doesn’t hesitate to help Mother and Min-ho, despite the risks; her family remains her top priority.
Themes
