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 begins secondary school in 1992, where she studies Korean, math, music, art, and “communist ethics,” a mixture of North Korean nationalism and Confucian traditions. Father is adamant Hyeonseo learn Chinese characters, a skill that will one day save her life. The most important lessons in school are those about the Great Leader and the Dear Leader, and math books are full of questions like: “In one battle of the Great Fatherland Liberation War, 3 brave uncles of the Korean People’s Army wiped out 30 American imperialist bastards. What was the ratio of the soldiers who fought?”
The fact that the knowledge of Chinese characters will one day save Hyeonseo’s life again suggests that she will one day live abroad and foreshadows her future defection to China. The obvious ideological indoctrination and the hate for America that is instilled in North Korean schoolchildren again reflects the power of the regime and the oppression of the people. The people are not permitted their own informed opinions; they are told what to believe by the state, through textbooks and questions such as this.
Themes
Hyeonseo’s greatest escape from school is through books. Her favorite is The Count of Monte Cristo, even though most of the pages are glued together by the censor. One evening, during Hyeonseo’s second year at secondary school, Mother makes a special dinner to celebrate Father’s new job. He has left the military, and this marks the first time Hyeonseo has ever seen him out of uniform. Over dinner, Hyeonseo asks her father about the new job, even though she isn’t really interested. She barely talks to him anymore, and he is guarded and secretive about his new position.
The fact that Father is guarded and secretive about his new job suggests that it might be illegal, or at the very least, frowned upon by the regime. Censorship in North Korea is among the strictest in the world. There is no free press, and all books and outside materials are meticulously combed through by censors. This shows how the people of North Korea are oppressed intellectually as well as materially, through the restrictions placed on free thought and ideas.
Themes
Father begins to travel to China on business, often staying away days at a time. Two months later, Hyeonseo goes to bed early only to wake to the fire from the aviation fuel mishap. All her books and her accordion are destroyed in the fire, including something else so illegal, it could have landed her entire family in a prison camp.
While Lee doesn’t reveal exactly what illegal contraband she is hiding, it has the potential to get her entire family in trouble. Entire families are often punished for an individual’s offenses, which further underscores both how oppressive North Korea is and how crucial the concept of family is for people there.
Themes
