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 two years, Hyeonseo tells Kim that she wants to go to South Korea. He tells her it is a bad idea. Korean-Chinese people have low status in South Korea, he says, and she is better off staying in China. Then, Hyeonseo tells him she isn’t Chinese. He doesn’t follow, and she tells him that she was born in Hyesan in North Korea. He is angry at first that Hyeonseo has kept such a big secret from him, so she tells him her entire story, beginning with her crossing of the Yalu River in 1997. Kim begins to laugh and tells her she should probably go to South Korea then. Hyeonseo books her ticket to Seoul in January 2008.
The fact that Korean-Chinese people are of low status in South Korea underscores the importance of nationality in Korean culture. Korean-Chinese are treated badly because they aren’t, strictly speaking, Korean. This sequence of events also reflects Hyeonseo’s denial of her true identity. Even her boyfriend didn’t know who she really was, and Hyeonseo isn’t sure anymore, either.
Themes
Hyeonseo and Kim say goodbye at the airport, fearing that it will be too risky to travel together. She boards the plane without too much trouble, and soon she is flying over South Korea. The border between North and South Korea is narrow, but the two countries are worlds apart. Suddenly, the pilot announces their descent, and Hyeonseo hears the wheels engage for landing. She is in Seoul. As the plane lands, Hyeonseo thinks of Mother and Min-ho. Will she ever see them again?
Hyeonseo’s trip into South Korea is surprisingly easy, which is not the usual experience. Lee includes a map of defector routes in the beginning of the book, and some North Koreans are forced to go through China and into a third country, like Mongolia or Burma, before finally getting into South Korea.
Themes
