Year Of Impossible Goodbyes Character Analysis

During the novel Year of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Nyul Choi, Sookan progressively changes from an ignorant, jealous little girl, to a defiant, courageous, wise, and more mother-like figure for Inchun. This can be exemplified during three moments in the book—when she starts out saying she wishes she were Japanese, when she starts to act defiant towards the Japanese after they take the sock girls, and when she and Inchun are escaping, she shows courage and keeps going and makes it to the South.

Sookan starts out as an ignorant little girl that is confused and doesn't really know much about what is happening around her. She is also envious of the Japanese because she thinks that they get whatever they want in Korea. She is ashamed of this, but for the first time she wishes that she wasn't Korean. "I wished that I were Japanese. I thought of the Japanese children who went to the special school and lived in pretty houses that Koreans used to own. The Japanese could have whatever they wanted in Korea" (30). This shows that Sookan doesn't know a lot about what's going on in her country right now, because she thinks that all the Japanese people are all being treated greatly and the Koreans are being treated terribly, when that's not the case. In this
quote, she also says that she wants to be Japanese, which is completely against what her family believes and she soon starts to change.

Sookan develops a deep hatred for the Japanese after they take away the sock girls.
She starts to act like she is going to defy the Japanese, because she is getting sick and tired of them taking whatever they want. After the Japanese soldiers take away the sock girls, Sookan says this, "The sun rose like any other day. It shone brightly, as if it knew nothing of our sadness. I felt the bright sun was heartless and cruel to shine so derisively, and I shut my eyes in defiance" (63). This supports my claim because here Sookan is showing the smallest bit of defiance to the sun, which I believe is a metaphor for the Japanese. She is starting to get frustrated and wants to do something to help the family out of this
situation.

After the war ends, the Russians come in and transform Korea into an extremely communist country. They make life boring and miserable for the Koreans, and Sookan's family plans to escape. After her mother is stopped at a security checkpoint by the Russians, Sookan has to take care of Inchun as they face many challenges and eventually make their way to the South. In this scene, Sookan shows that she is willing to do anything to help her and Inchun successfully make it to their family. "I heard the dogs getting closer and thrust my body under the wire. The barbs dug into me. My hair was caught, my clothes ripped, and I could feel the blood pooling in the cuts on my back. I kept going, and finally, made it through. I grabbed Inchun's hand. We cried and kept running" (164). This shows that Sookan is now willing to shed skin and blood for the good of her family. She also developed the courage to even go through with the whole escape plan, when she could've gone back home to face the Russians. Her wisdom and courage helped them to make it to the South, and her to tell her story.

During this novel, Sookan gradually changes from an ignorant little girl to a wiser, more courageous figure. This is demonstrated through the three moments previously explained—when she says she wishes to be Japanese, when she starts to show defiance, and when she shows that she has become wiser and knows what is needed to help herself and Inchun survive. This matters because if she were to have stayed that jealous child that she was at the beginning of the book, she and Inchun probably wouldn't have made it. But since she developed courage and wisdom, it helped them survive and make it to their family.