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Isak vs. Issac

 I was most interested in the biblical comparison between Isak from Pachinko and Isaac from the bible. In the bible, Abraham is willing and about to sacrifice Isaac because God asked him to. And depending on your biblical interpretation, that sacrifice was supposed to 1) go beyond Abraham's own wants (to have a family and children) in deference to a greater good and greater calling by God. And 2) teach Abraham about the importance of his relationship with Isaac as well as his relationship with God. Although it was through pretty gruesome means, the sacrifice, in the end, brought everyone closer together and taught Abraham about what was most important to him—his relationship with God.

In Pachinko, Isak's sacrifice is different. Rather than being forced by someone else (Abraham), Isak makes the sacrifice of marrying Sunja and providing for a family that isn't biologically his of his own volition. Isak chooses to do it, not because God directly told him to do it, but because he believed it was the right thing to do. While Abraham acted in direct deference to God, Isak acted in indirect deference to his sense of morality, what a good person is, and the common good. And I will be interested to see in the entirety of the novel, if Isak's sacrifice will 1) bring everyone closer together, and 2) teach them lessons about themselves and their relationships. 

Comments

  1. Gema Sanchez GamezMarch 6, 2023 at 2:33 PM

    Hi Noah, I think your analysis of Isak's name is really interesting. One of the main themes in Pachinko is sacrifice, so it makes sense that Lee chose this name for Isak's character, who's entire life has revolved around being emotionally attuned to everyone around him.

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  2. John SawyerMarch 7, 2023 at 1:02 PM

    Hi Noah, I appreciate the description you provided of Isaac's representation in The Bible. I was previously not aware of this. Cool to hear about how Lee's intentional decision of sacrifice was crucial in defining Isak's character in the book. Scenes like these show how connected the author is to The Bible as it plays such a large role in not only names of the characters, but their fates as well.

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