Introduction

In both There There and Pachinko, the characters face violence and trauma. This violence and trauma affects generations, as represented in the novels through the characters' experiences and struggles. Both Orange and Lee highlight the struggles the characters in these novels face when assimiliating and figuring out their identities. Orange strongly highlights the "colonist perspective," emphasizing how Native Americans have been oppressed for years. As a result, their stories are underrepresented and not well understood, leading to them being stereotyped and discriminated against. Similarly, Lee also argues for the colonist perspective, showing that Koreans dispersed from their homeland, especially in Japan, have a hard time gaining acceptance and assimilating in a new society. Lee argues that Koreans resisting Japanese culture will only make them worse off and hard for them to get by. Lee also makes it seem as if Koreans in Japan will still not be able to get rid of their Korean roots even if they tried to compromise, as shown with Noa. Belonging is still out of reach even if Koreans tried to assimilate. 

There There was set in contemporary Oakland. The 12 characters in this book are Indigenous people born and raised in Oakland, as well as those who relocated from reservations. Due to the colonialism the Native Americans faced, many of the characters have a hard time assimilating and figuring out their identity. For example, in Calvin Johnson's section, he says, “Yeah and my dad wasn’t home hardly ever, then one day he was really gone. He left us. So I don’t know, I feel bad sometimes even saying I’m native. Mostly I just feel like I’m from Oakland.” Additionally, Jacquie faced violence and trauma as a teenager when she was assaulted. This exhibit focuses on an in depth analysis on these characters. 

Similarly, the first part of Pachinko was set in Korea while the second part was set in Japan. When Isak and Sunja move to Japan, they have a hard time assimilating, and the readers are shown how the Japanese look down upon the Koreans. For example, Noa, their son struggles with figuring out his identity, which unfortunately results in him taking his life. Being a Korean raised in Japan, Noa struggles with feeling accepted at school while still being a "good Korean" to please his father. This exhibit analyzes Noa, Mozasu, and Hansu in Pachinko and their roles when it comes to the theme of generational trauma. 

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