Flashlight

Serk Kang is one of the novel’s main protagonists. Born to a Korean family living in Japan, Serk is deeply influenced by the imperial education system, which causes him to primarily think of himself as a Japanese person—even going by the assigned Japanese name Hiroshi. After World War II, a young Serk learns of his Korean heritage, which causes alienation from himself.

The fluidity of Serk’s identity—which highlights Tension Between Belonging and Identity—is symbolized by his many names throughout the novel. His parents ask him to go by his birth name, Seok, which he accepts as a compromise for his refusal to study in a Korean school. When he arrives in the United States, he becomes Serk, a mispronunciation. The distance between his birth name and the name he adopts for much of his life speaks to his lack of an authentic self. Serk’s names are used for survival rather than identification; reverting to his birth name would put some aspect of his life at risk, such as his residency abroad or the respect of his family. To emphasize this, Ji-hoon assigns Serk the moniker “The Crab” to protect his identity, given the risk that surrounds their work.