The Eyes Are the Best Part

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of death, graphic violence, racism, and gender discrimination.

How does the novel’s treatment of eye consumption evolve from cultural practice to obsession and murder, and what does this transformation suggest about the relationship between tradition and trauma in immigrant narratives?

Analyze how the text employs parallel patterns of male control (George, Geoffrey, Appa, etc.) while differentiating specific manifestations. How do these patterns contribute to the novel’s exploration of patriarchal power?

The revelation of Ji-won’s brain tumor introduces questions of agency and culpability. How does this medical explanation interact with the novel’s broader themes of inherited trauma and cultural violence? To what extent does the tumor serve as a metaphor rather than an explanation?