How we cite our quotes: (Page)
Quote #10
"I wonder of what you must daily endure in America, having no government to protect you, no one to tell you want to do. Is it true you're given no ration card, that you must find food for yourself? Is it true that you labor for no higher purpose than paper money?" (350)
This moment when Sun Moon speaks to an uncomprehending American rower about the incredible folly of capitalistic life is a double-edged sword. It's clearly a criticism of American culture, but Johnson also makes us acutely aware of the otherness of a world in which ration cards and absolute government control are actual things. In the end, neither side looks particularly attractive.
Quote #11
"Korean, this is a word written in blood on the walls of the heart. No American could ever use it. So she has paddled her little boat, so some sun has beat down on her. Have the people she loved faced death so that she might live? Is sorrow the only thing that connects her to all who came before her? Has her nation been occupied by Mongolian, Chinese, and Japanese oppressors for ten thousand years?" (420)
Sun Moon is desperately trying to convince the Dear Leader to stick with the plan to let the American Rower go—otherwise her plans to defect will be derailed. And she is good: while we know her ulterior motive, her patriotic panegyric is moving and makes us wonder just how much of it she really feels. If you're very careful, you might imagine an authorial intrusion here, with Johnson speculating on what it means to belong to a nation.