The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea

“When the otherworldly storms rise from the East Sea, lightning breaking the sky and waters ripping up the shore, a bride is chosen and given to the Sea God.”

The phrase “otherworldly storms rise from the East Sea” paints a vivid picture of the tumultuous and supernatural nature of the storms, imbuing the narrative with a sense of foreboding. In addition to hinting at the mystical elements that pervade the novel, the vision of approaching storms can be viewed as the imminent arrival of unknown yet formidable conflicts. Also, with phrases such as “lightning breaking the sky” and “waters ripping up the shore,” Oh employs hyperbole to intensify the sense of danger and chaos. These descriptions serve to elevate the storms from mere meteorological events to harbingers of significant and possibly calamitous change.

“It is tradition in the seaside villages to write wishes onto pieces of paper before folding them carefully into boats to set upon the river. The belief is that our paper boats will carry our wishes to our dead ancestors in the Spirit Realm, where they can bargain with the lesser gods to fulfill our dreams and desires.”

The practice of writing wishes on paper and folding them into boats symbolizes the human desire to connect with the divine and the ancestral realm. This act is laden with the hope and faith of the villagers, representing their aspirations, dreams, and desires. The paper boats therefore become a tangible manifestation of these intangible thoughts and feelings, bridging the gap between the human and spiritual worlds. Additionally, the metaphor of the paper boats “carrying our wishes to our dead ancestors in the Spirit Realm” beautifully illustrates the belief in an interconnectedness between the living and the spiritual world.