The Eyes Are the Best Part

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism and death.

The Eyes Are the Best Part focuses on a Korean American family and examines the cultural traditions of Korean immigrants in the context of a patriarchal and white-dominated American society. Umma and Appa, the parents of Ji-won and Ji-hyun, are immigrants from South Korea, having both grown up in difficult, traumatizing circumstances in their home country. Likewise, both Umma and Appa struggle to integrate into American society. Umma is portrayed as having a very shaky grasp of English; for instance, she must use her daughters to translate the conversations between her and her new fiancé, George. Appa is shown to be unsure as to his place and status in America, marrying Umma out of necessity and leaving her and his daughters the first chance he gets.

As of 2019, approximately 1.9 million Korean Americans were living in the US (Budiman, Abby. “Koreans in the U.S. Fact Sheet.” Pew Research Center, 29 Apr. 2021). As a percentage of the total US population at the time (roughly 328.3 million), this works out to approximately .6% (United States Census Bureau. “2019 U.S. Population Estimates Continue to Show the Nation’s Growth Is Slowing.” 30 Dec. 2019). This Korean diaspora community has often contended with resistance from white American society, particularly toward less “assimilated” immigrants.

The novel is set mostly within Koreatown, a neighborhood of central Los Angeles, which has a relatively large Korean American population. Korean immigrants first began making their way to Los Angeles in the early 20th century, following the end of Korea’s self-imposed isolation during the 19th century. Immigration increased in the 1960s, with many new arrivals settling in the mid-Wilshire area, which eventually became known as Koreatown. The 1992 Los Angeles uprising, a response to the police murder of a Black man named Rodney King, significantly affected the city’s Korean American population, with looting and property damage destroying a significant number of Korean American-owned businesses in the area. This unrest solidified the importance of community-based organizations and led to Korean Americans increasingly identifying themselves as a distinct community and culture.

Today, Koreatown remains one of the most densely populated districts of Los Angeles County and serves as a cultural hub for Korean Americans, featuring numerous Korean American-owned businesses, restaurants, and cultural centers, as well as a significant population of other ethnicities. This multicultural setting provides the backdrop for the novel’s exploration of cultural tensions, family dynamics, and the challenges faced by second-generation Korean Americans like Ji-won, who must navigate between traditional Korean values and contemporary American life.