Min Jin Lee’s “Pachinko” Got Me Thinking About the Game and More
Every Symbol in the Novel originates from this Grand Metaphor.
What intrigued me the most about Min Jin Lee’s novel is its title, ‘Pachinko.’ My curiosity was struck by this title and made me read the book and even watch the adaptation. A generational saga like Pachinko can have no other name better than this.
Pachinko is a game in Japan, which is kind of like a mixture of pinball and slot machine. The players of the game purchase small silver balls and launch them into the machine, in the hope of them falling into the slots. But this usually never happens and the player loses all the balls.
The game itself requires a lot of skill and tremendous luck or, in most cases just luck. This, sort of children’s game, explains the grand scheme of the narrative in the novel.
The Grand Metaphor for Life
The characters in the novel are like the tiny silver balls in the Pachinko machine that bump against pins and bumpers, as the player hopes that they reach a slot. They navigate their lives through colonialism and world wars. Only back-breaking hard work and luck would get them through their circumstances.
In the game Pachinko, the life of the Korean-Japanese family in the novel is unpredictable. They cannot control their lives, nor do they have the skill set required. They can only hope for the better.
How ‘Pachinko’ Literally Becomes the End Game for the Metaphorical Pachinko (Life) in the Novel
Min Jin Lee talks about four generations of a Korean-Japanese family in her novel. The central character Sunja moves to Japan because of her life circumstances. She survives because of her resilience and endurance, hence making life easier for the next generation.
The younger generation Noa, Mozasu, and Solomon (Mozasu’s son) struggle with an identity crisis. In a pivotal scene, Mozasu says,
“In Seoul, people like me get called Japanese bastards, and in Japan, I’m just another dirty Korean no matter how much money I make or how nice I am. So what the fuck?”
― Min Jin Lee, Pachinko
Mozasu embraces his Korean identity while Noa tries to run away from it. Mozasu, even being the younger son, gets into the Pachinko business earlier than Noa. But, Noa too has to enter the same business, when he loses his sense of identity, very tragically, through the course of the narrative.
The struggles of this family apply to the broader identity of the Korean-Japanese community who were denied any other jobs. They had to make their living through small businesses like Pachinko.
In the author’s own words:
“The Pachinko business and the game itself serve as metaphors for the history of Koreans in Japan — a people caught in seemingly random global conflicts — as they win, lose and struggle for their place and for their lives.”
— Min Jin Lee
Min Jin Lee uses some symbols too, in the broader scheme of the metaphor of Pachinko.
Pachinko’s Commonplace Symbols
- Kimchi
The protagonist Sunja gets her life together through the Kimchi business. Kimchi is made out of cabbage and it stinks and people move away from her cart. This is how Koreans themselves were treated in Japan. Kimchi is a symbol of the resilience of women.
2. White Rice
Yangjin, Sunja’s mother, manages to get some white rice on her wedding night, which Koreans were not allowed to buy in Japanese-occupied Korea. White rice becomes a symbol of the identity, the country they left, and the hope of the Korean-Japanese people.
3. Fire
Fire represents the passion of Koh Hansu, who becomes a pivotal reason for the unfortunate circumstances of Sunja. It also symbolizes the changed man that he is.
4. The Gold Watch
The gold watch symbolizes wealth and time. The wealth and time that Hansu has but Sunja does not. Sunja’s selling of the watch is her final attempt to let go of her past and, time, which is always not in her favour.
Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko uses the game as a metaphor for life. The unpredictable life, the life that throws the characters into the deep end, the life that makes them break their backs. The game becomes the reason for their survival.
Though Pachinko is historical fiction, it is the untold story of a community that has never been represented. As the author rightfully opens the novel,
History has failed us, but no matter.
— Min Jin Lee
© 2023 Arya James
