Year Of Impossible Goodbyes Summary

483 Words1 Page

During the timeframe covered in the memoir Year of Impossible Goodbyes, Sookan changes from a fearful little girl to Inchun’s emotionally strong and protective nuna. In the following three moments, this change is most apparent: when Sookan plays in the lawn with Inchun at the beginning of the book, when she is forced to leave home to go to Japanese school for the first time, and when Sookan and Inchun escape across the border without their mother. At the beginning of the book, Sookan is just a little girl. She plays in the yard with Inchun, takes lessons from Grandfather in the culture of Korea and China, and helps her mother and the sock girls. She enjoys this simple lifestyle: “I was glad to be home with Grandfather, reading and writing Korean and learning about the ancient Korean kingdoms” (Choi 5). However, this comfortable way of living was short-lived. …show more content…

This was the very first time in Sookan’s life that she had been separated from Inchun, as he was always her “shadow”. This would also be the first time that she would be speaking Japanese, because she had only heard it up until that point. Mother was very reluctant in allowing her children to go off to school: “I knew Mother had hoped the war would end before Inchun and I had to go to the Japanese school” (Choi 64). This quote also represents how Mother has a little bit of hope for the future, although Grandfather lost his when his tree was cut down. Although this scene was courageous of Sookan, she became much more brave and motherly in the following

Open Document