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
Mrs. Ahn opens the door in Changbai and tells Hyeonseo that Mr. Ahn is very sick and bedridden. North Korean border guards had captured him on the Hyesan side and beat him before sending him back to China, and on top of all this, he is suffering from severe diabetes. He has no news about her family and hasn’t been to Hyesan in over two years. Mrs. Ahn, however, offers to help, and Hyeonseo offers to pay her a smuggler’s fee. It is dark when Hyeonseo arrives, and even though she can’t see Hyesan across the river, it still smells the same.
The smell of Hyesan in the dark illustrates Hyeonseo’s connection to her homeland, since she recognizes it even when she can’t see the city. The abuse of Mr. Ahn—a Chinese man—by the North Korean guards further reflects the power of the regime, while Mrs. Ahn’s willingness to help Hyeonseo despite her husband’s ill treatment again proves that there really is kindness in the world.
Themes
Hyeonseo returns to Shenyang and waits for word from Mrs. Ahn. Weeks later, Mrs. Ahn calls and informs Hyeonseo that she has found her family. Then she says that Min-ho is with her now. He picks up the phone, and Hyeonseo can hardly believe her ears. She makes immediate plans to go to Changbai and draws all her savings out of the bank. She converts it to US dollars, nearly $800, and her phone rings. It is the businessman’s contact, and he has found her family. He asks when Hyeonseo will be in Changbai, and she lies and says tomorrow.
The broker’s phone call seems like a bad sign. Since the broker has found Hyeonseo’s family, the reader can infer that the man has done the agreed-upon work and will expect to get paid. Hyeonseo obviously has some money, but the broker’s cost is unclear, as is Mrs. Ahn’s smuggler’s fee. The fact that Hyeonseo carries on despite all this uncertainty again highlights how much her family means to her.
Themes
At Mrs. Ahn’s house, Hyeonseo sees Min-ho for the first time in years, but before she can ask about Mother, there is a knock at the door. It is four men, an obvious gang, and they ask for Hyeonseo by her alias. The men claim they have found her family, and Hyeonseo promises to contact them the next day. No, the men say, she must come with them now. The men know that Min-ho and Mother are already on their way to the Ahns’ house, but it makes no difference to them. They have already done their part and they expect to get paid. Their fee is $8,500, and if Hyeonseo doesn’t pay, they will have no choice but to take her back to North Korea.
Again, Hyeonseo has zero options and she is in serious trouble. She can’t go to the police—she will be taken back to North Korea—so she has no choice but to figure out how to pay, or risk being sent back to North Korean anyway. The fact that the brokers hired by the businessman are an obvious gang suggests that they aren’t exactly upstanding people. Presumably, the men are capable of doing unspeakable things to Hyeonseo, a threat that is made much worse because she is a woman, which further underscores her oppression and vulnerably.
Themes
