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
After three days of being held by the gang, Hyeonseo finally gets the courage up to call Uncle Jung-gil. He agrees to pay the gang’s fee immediately, but it still takes two days for the check to clear. They finally let her go, and with a small wad of money pinned to the inside of her jacket, Hyeonseo boards a bus to Shenyang. Not knowing what to do next, Hyeonseo decides to go to a fortune-teller, who tells her to move south to Shanghai. Hyeonseo quits her job at the restaurant, packs up her small apartment, and leaves for Shanghai. It is January 2002.
Hyeonseo’s visit to the fortune-teller, which mirrors her mother’s habit of doing the same thing, is evidence of her connection to her family and her North Korean heritage. Visiting the fortune-teller makes Hyeonseo feel closer to her mother and her country, even though the fortune-teller’s advice leads her even farther away from North Korea.
Themes
