Sara Watson’s Reviews > The Island of Sea Women > Status Update

Her mind returns again and again to the questions posed by the man who spoke earlier today: Who can name a death that was not tragic? Is there a way for us to find the meaning in the losses we’ve suffered? Who can say that one soul has a heavier grievance than another? We were all victims. We need to forgive each other.

…again. She done so grudgingly. Sometimes everything you do is just pointless and as in effective of shouting into the wind.”

…my consolation had come from knowing I was giving my daughter, the best education possible. She was smart and ambitious. She knew things I would never know. But now I saw other realities: you can do everything for a child. You can encourage her to read and do her math homework. You can forbid her to ride a bike, giggle, too much, or see a boy. I just asked her to promise she wouldn’t see Yo-chan or Mi-Ja…

“But how can I forgive Mi-Ja after what happened to them? I live with that every day.” “We all see that now, and we all feel sorry for you, but everyone on the island was hurting those terrible years. You’re more than some, but also less than others. They did this to me. They did that to me. A woman who thinks that way, we’ll never overcome her anger. You are not being punished before your anger. You’re..

What I am saying is that killing happened on both sides here on Jiju and on the Korean mainland. Guilty and innocent died every day across our country. This has been happening for years now. Imagine that for a moment. Day after day. Month after month. Seeing and smelling death, while mothers still trying to feed, clothes, and comfort their children.