An 2
Alyssa An
Professor Kim
English Literature
5 February 2019
Mama and the Boarder- 3 Sentences
1. The story, Mama and the Boarder, talks about a 6-year-old girl named Pak Ok-hui. She currently lives with her Mother who is referred to as a widow since her husband’s, Kyong-son, passing. Ok-hui also lives with three other people that are referred to as Big and Little Uncle and Grandma in the story. As the reader gets a general understanding of the current situation the family is in, it becomes clear about one of the mother’s primary worries. Upon asking Ok-hui if she misses having a “Papa," the daughter responds immediately that she does. However, in the middle of their conversation, it seems the mother tries to explain to Ok-hui that if she decides to have another husband, the daughter would suffer harassment and discrimination. This represented the mother’s concern with social disapproval. Indeed, during this time period in which this story was written, certain rules were placed upon wives whose husbands pass away. It was part of the Korean culture to assume a widow had a sickness or possessed something in which that person could no longer marry another man again.
2. As the readers continue to analyze the story, they are able to depict certain key character traits that Ok-hui possesses. Within the story, there are many different situations in which Ok-hui had to act like an adult in some ways. One example of this was when she and the mother was going off to Church. Once Ok-hui realized that the Uncle was in the church room with them, she had a sudden urge to greet him. However, the two adults changed a nice situation into an awkward atmosphere. Normally, a six-year-old would become fed up with the constant trend of strangeness among the family members. In one instance, Ok-hui mentions that she would have wanted to bawl out crying. However, upon seeing her kindergar...
