The Eyes Are the Best Part

Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism, suicidal ideation, gender discrimination, sexual harassment, mental illness, graphic violence, death, and emotional abuse.

Ji-won is both the protagonist and the unreliable narrator of The Eyes Are the Best Part. Throughout the novel, her psychological deterioration creates increasing ambiguity surrounding the accuracy of her reported perceptions. At multiple points in the novel, strange events seemingly happen without any explanation only to be revealed as elaborate dreams that express her desires—e.g., to eat blue eyes. Her unreliability also manifests through selective information sharing, as demonstrated in her concealment of Umma’s suicidal ideation from Ji-hyun and her manipulation of multiple characters’ perceptions of events. As a dynamic character, she transforms from victim to aggressor, though this transformation follows patterns established in her earlier manipulation of high school friendships.

The text develops Ji-won’s character through significant contrasts. Her academic struggles at college contrast with her intelligence (as evidenced by her sophisticated manipulation of others), while her protective impulses toward family contrast with her increasing violence toward strangers. These contradictions create a complex psychological portrait that resists simple categorization. Ji-won is simultaneously supportive and dismissive, kind and cruel, loving and distant, and these internal tensions invite reflection about the external tensions that may have contributed to them (e.