An Analysis Of Echoes Of The White Giraffe By Sook Nyui Choi
1495 Words6 Pages
Home is a theme represented in many books and may it be presented as something to cause readers to relate to its characters or teach the readers a lesson about it, it certainly is something that is everything. In both a figurative and physical sense is home a term held dear to most people, however in Sook Nyui Choi’s novel Echoes of the White Giraffe, Sookan is once again faced with a problem of what home is during the Korean War. She loves her family but also loves the idea of going to America and seeing new things causing her to be torn between the two ideals. However, as Sookan matures into womanhood she tries to make up her mind of whether home is where her family is or where she finds achievement. As Sookan grows up she reveals many…show more content… For example, both Sookan and I learn that sometimes we need to find closure in ourselves. As stated in the text “The rainbow seemed to whisper, ‘Junho will be glad you came.’” (132). Sookan will soon be leaving to America, however she still misses Junho, especially after his recent visit that untied the end she had already knotted. Though knowing that her mother would be breaking tradition, she offers to take Sookan to find closure before departing. However, Junho is unable to greet her and though Sookan is disappointed she realizes he would have been happy to see her, As a result, instead of having a direct confrontation with Junho, Sookan finds closure in not saying goodbye and realizing they can still remain friends if she doesn’t decides to cut off her relationship entirely with him by saying goodbye. This book teachers its readers that sometimes we need time to sort things out, but either way it’ll work out in the end. As state in the text, “I imagined sitting behind the gurgling fountain with that rainbow dancing before me.” (137). The plane has taken off and Sookan is well on her way to become a student in America but is leaving with all of her doubts intact. She realizes that she is leaving her family at an age younger than most of the other students and is conflicted with her feelings of staying with her family, where she’s comfortable or leaving to America to sort out all of the her experiences and see new and fascinating things. She becomes worried about actually ridding herself the confusion of her life in Korea, doubting if she is able to move on from everything she’s confused about and look back on. However, she thinks of happy memories which help her realize that everyone moves on, meaning there is no way she can’t. Both Sookan and the readers learn that we can find our answers in ourselves and things work out no matter what they might