Summary

These chapters formally introduce us to Namin Kang, who was briefly referred to in the previous section as Jisun’s friend from Miari, an impoverished area of Seoul. Namin and her family live in a small, cramped three-room house. She shares a room with her older sister, Kyungmin. In the family, Kyungmin’s responsibility is to work at a factory and do household chores, like fetching the sanitation man to empty the toilet. Namin’s responsibility is to study. Namin knows Kyungmin resents her for this distribution of work, but concedes “a college degree… could lift them out of their situation for good. No amount of time at the factory could do that” (51).

The chapter opens with Namin asking her sister to find the sanitation man, Mr. Hong, since the toilet level is high. Kyungmin, who looks exhausted and has another shift...