Identity

The most prominent theme in Choi’s novel is arguably that of identity, with a particular focus on how separate identities and shared identities interact and intersect. This is shown primarily in the tension Jayne feels between her own identity and that of her sister — she resists being associated with her sister and has felt overshadowed by her, but at the same time finds herself inevitably drawn back to June. This is demonstrated in symbolic ways that the girls’ images combine or drift together: Jayne has been using her sister’s ID to buy alcohol because no one can tell them apart, and she eventually finds out that June has stolen her identity to pay for cancer treatments through Jayne’s insurance. When Jayne first spots her sister at the beginning of the novel, she does so in a mirror, observing, “Even without our nursery-rhyme names...