Flashlight
56 pages • 1-hour read
Susan ChoiFlashlight
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Symbols & Motifs
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism.
Flashlight
The flashlight in the novel’s title is a motif that supports the theme of The Limits of Human Memory. In the prologue, Serk brings a flashlight on the night of his abduction; it is a symbol of Serk’s cautious nature and his desire to understand where he is going and what danger he will face.
Other flashlights prompt Louisa to recall her father and her failure to explain what really happened to him. During her consultation with Dr. Brickner, Louisa fixates on a flashlight in his office that cannot illuminate the truth of her story or to expose Serk’s real fate. Louisa focuses on the flashlight to immerse herself in a memory that makes her uncomfortable, delving into the anxiety that the gaps in Louisa’s memory causes her to feel. Louisa’s conviction that Serk was abducted despite not being able to prove it becomes is a small point of light surrounded by the shadow of obscurity.
A flashlight appears later in Chapter 11 when Louisa joins the séance held by Vanessa. Louisa tries to dismiss the paranormal aspects of the séance scientifically; her inability to convince her peers underscores her earlier failure to explain what really happened to Serk. Here, the flashlight symbolizes that Serk’s disappearance haunts his daughter.
Serk’s original flashlight reappears in Chapter 12; a longer depiction of the abduction reveals that Serk used it to beat one of his captors to death. Later, he is unsure if the memory of beating his captor is something real or imagined, pointing to the gaps in his own memory. Even this disambiguated flashlight remains a symbol of unsolvable mystery and the inability to restore the past.
Photograph of Serk and Louisa
The photo of Serk and Louisa on the beach is symbol that supports the theme of Loneliness in Family Life. It features prominently in Anne’s narrative, functioning as evidence of a mystery that never becomes resolved. Chapter 4 reveals the origin of the photograph, which was taken by Soonja during Serk and Louisa’s first visit.
The photo symbolizes Anne’s deep disconnection from her family. Not only did someone else take the photo, implying a day out that Anne was not a part of, but the photograph depicts an intimacy between Serk and Louisa that Anne is excluded from. The image thus represents Anne’s life in Japan, where her illness prevents her from participating in town life or attempting to adapt to her new home. Although Anne and Louisa had a strong bond before moving to Japan, the photograph is concrete evidence for Anne’s belief that Louisa has abandoned her to become closer to Serk.
In Chapter 13, Anne rediscovers the photo, prompting her to ask Louisa about it. No longer beholden to the secrecy surrounding Serk and Soonja’s relationship, Louisa reveals that she never found out Mrs. Ishida’s true identity. In this way, the photograph becomes a bridge between Anne and Louisa, who continue to grieve through the gaps in their knowledge of Serk’s life and fate.
Languages
The ability to speak the language of a country recurs throughout the novel and highlights Tension Between Belonging and Identity. Access to language reveals how the characters imagine themselves, and how those around them respond to these self-constructed identities.
At the start of the novel, Serk is proud of his proficiency in Japanese, but is also humiliated by his family and their friends for his failure to understand Korean. This drives the idea that Serk sees himself as culturally Japanese, even though the institutions of his adopted country see him as a second-class citizen. Serk eventually learns Korean to correspond with his family; he also learns English to move to the US, which impresses the Americans he encounters. When Serk is abducted by the North Korean government, he is valued for his proficiency in Japanese, but is simultaneously mistreated for espousing the cultural values that such proficiency implies.
Louisa also uses language to adapt to her environment. When she moves to Japan, she is driven to learn Japanese so that she doesn’t stand out from her peers. Years later, Louisa forgets that she learned Japanese at all because she hasn’t had to use it during her time in the United States and Europe. To prepare for her reunion with Serk in the final chapter, Louisa learns Korean. She is stunned by her ability to recognize her family name in Hangul, signaling the success of her effort to reconnect with her heritage. In this context, her language skill reflects her relationship with Serk and her heritage as the descendant of a Korean Japanese man.
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