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
When Hyeonseo is seven years old, she sees a man hanging by his neck under a bridge. His face is covered by a sack, and his hands are tied behind his back. There are several hangings over the next few days, and Mother even knows one of the women. The woman is suspected of seducing a state official to steal money, and she is immediately sentenced to death at her trial, which is little more than an official accusation. The woman is tied to a pole in the middle of town, and after the soldiers push her from the platform, she twitches and shakes before falling limp. Mother is pregnant with Min-ho and greatly upset by the hangings. She hates living in Anju and is relieved when Father is relocated to Hamhung.
Such public executions again demonstrate the cruelty and oppression of the Kim regime. Not only are citizens executed on a whim for even minor offenses, they are executed in the middle of town before a crowd and left hanging as an intimidation tactic. Executions are not done quietly and in private; they are terribly public, and they serve as a warning to North Koreans (even small children) to stay in line and remain loyal to the state, or suffer the very severe consequences.
Themes
After leaving Anju, Hyeonseo’s family first stops in Hyesan before moving to Hamhung. Mother wants Min-ho to be born in Hyesan, so his birth certificate will be registered in the same city as the rest of the family. Father’s family asks to meet Min-ho before they move to Hamhung, and when they do, they treat the young boy with obvious respect. It seems as if they like Min-ho better than Hyeonseo, and she assumes it is because he is a boy. Mother, however, knows Father’s family will always treat her children with less respect than they would if she hadn’t already had a child when they married.
Of course, Hyeonseo has no idea that she isn’t her father’s biological daughter, which is why Father’s parents treat Min-ho so much better than they do Hyeonseo. Likely, the grandparents view Hyeonseo and the truth of her parentage as scandalous and a threat to their songbun and their status in society.
Themes
