sorry if these notes are a little less organized than usual, i was sick during seminar so it was hard to pay attention + i was a little delirious from my oncoming fever
- expectations
-> jeehyun’s responsibility over haejin
-> parent’s scolding her over Haejin’s disappearance
->their frustration over not having a boy
-> jeehyun’s disseration - expressing love, “you know we love you right?”
- l.oss -> of country, of language, of people/family members
- flow between past and present
- jeehyun/janie’s warped perception of haejin/hannah due to stress and pressure of parent’s expectations
-> feelings of insecurity + no outlet
-> janie’s struggle between tradition + modernism, double expectations - racism and asian privilege -> model minority
-> the privilege to ignore/brush off racism - “my parents couldn’t do this so i have to do this”
- immigrant vs. citizen -> when the cousins come to visit
- “don’t cause trouble” + silence on issues
- miscommunication
- janie acting as a scapegoat for their family
- korean civil war and family conflict parallels
- illusiveness of the american dream
- how family changes when ppl leave (feels this w/ me and my family)
- filial duty
-> was filial duty causing their trauma + conflict? (definitely) - tree roots/hands/intertwining, suffocating each other
- assimilation + “normality,” fitting into american culture
-> who defines “normal”?
-> their name changes—jeehyun/janie; haejin/hannah - same w/ how the parents had to have japanese names during japanese occupation (colonialism)
- dad’s home in the soil, in gardening, growth, setting down roots