As my first blog post, I want to write about the question that Dr. McCoy asked us to think about after this week’s class. In Home, by Toni Morrison, during Frank Money’s time in North Korea, we were left with the mysterious question as to who shot the Korean child and why? Throughout the book, Morrison slowly reveals who Frank is as a person, and allowing the reader to come up with their own conclusions.
Before Frank went to war, he had negative feelings towards his hometown, Lotus, Georgia. Frank was curious of the unknown, and wanted more out of his life. He felt he would be able to fill in those gaps, by leaving town and joining the army. Although Frank was able to experience new things, it came at cost of losing his self-identity. At first Frank lies to the narrator about who killed the little Korean girl, blaming the murder on a guard. It was not until later in the book, when the truth of who shot the child was finally revealed. Sadly, it was Frank.
Throughout the book, as the reader we have noticed Morrison’s deliberate attempt at brevity. Allowing us to organize our thoughts and interpret the story for ourselves. Particularly about the shooting of the little Korean girl, which was inspired by Frank’s illicit sexual desire to the child. There could have been so much more Frank could have said about this. So why did he do it? After Frank confesses to killing the little girl, I believe it is because he was afraid of the possibility of what he is capable of doing. Thus, in order to prevent himself from ever acting on those desires, he eliminates it completely out of his life. It also saddens me to look at the situation through the little girl’s perspective. The fact that she was willing to give up her body, at such young age, in order to survive, tells us a lot about how she was raised. After returning to the USA, Frank carries this shame and it affects his relationship with his sister, Cee.