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
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