Year Of Impossible Goodbyes Character Analysis

In the book Year of Impossible Goodbyes, the main character, Sookan, changes throughout the book to be less naive, aware of others and empathetic. Kids tend to think more of themselves and be more selfish and oblivious than when they are older, different events and experiences drive each person or don't to be more conscious of other people's emotions and what dangers others or themselves are in. Three parts in Sookan's story that I think helped propel her character change was her first day of school, when she noticed the woman and her child, and when Inchun wanted her to be strong and act like her Nuna. Sookan being so small in size, Sookan's mother was able to keep her from attending school for a couple years. Mother didn't want her to go because of the school being run by Japanese with beliefs that harshly differ with hers. Sookan did have to attend at some point and on her first day she realized what Mother didn't want to expose to her, what risks followed her convictions and what the …show more content…
When she is at school and tries to help a girl by sharing her lunch but another student intervenes and get rid of Sookan's lunch. She realizes that she wants to help the little girl but she also realizes the danger she is in because what her values show her are very deferent from the ones the Japanese are teaching. When Inchun is comforting her and trying to show her that she is strong and needs to be responsible, she sees what Inchun is saying and starts to include his dependence on her as factor when she is making decisions. When Sookan sees the woman with the child she feels empathy and acts on it even thought it gives her no advantage that she knows of, she demonstrates her change by not thinking about her kind actions twice, showing that it was then a trait of hers and that she had