Graphic Nonfiction by
Keum Suk Gendry-Kim
Translated from the Korean by
Janet Hong
Before and during World War II, the nation of Japan occupied Korea. The novel Grass tells the true story of a Korean girl's life during that era, in her own words. In the chapter that appears here, Lee Ok-sun's parents give her away for adoption, hoping she will have enough to eat and a chance to attend school.
However, later in the book, it turns out that Ok-sun's "new parents" treat her more like a servant than a daughter, and she doesn't get to go to school after all. Still later, the Japanese army kidnaps Ok-sun while she is out running an errand. Ok-sun is taken to a Japanese army base in occupied China, where she is forced into sexual slavery and must serve as a "comfort woman."
(For the visually impaired, there are captions below the page numbers.)
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Definitions
- Ok-sun
Name of the narrator, the oldest daughter in the family.
- Okja
Ok-sun's sister.
- Aigo
"Oh, dear" or "Oh, my gosh" in Korean, pronounced something like "a-eeko." (See the Context tab for details.)
First published in English in Words Without Borders' February 2019 issue: International Graphic Novels: Volume XIII.