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“All her life, Sunja had heard this sentiment from other women, that they must suffer-- suffer as a girl, suffer as a wife, suffer as a mother-- die suffering. Go-saeng-- the word made her sick. What else was there besides this? She had suffered to create a better life for Noa, and yet it was not enough. Should she have taught her son to suffer the humiliation that she'd drunk like water? In the end, he had refused to suffer the conditions of his birth. Did mothers fail by not telling their sons that suffering would come?” — Min Jin Lee
All her life, Sunja had heard this sentiment from other women, that they must suffer-- suffer as a girl, suffer as a wife, suffer as a mother-- die suffering. Go-saeng-- the word made her sick. What else was there besides this? She had suffered to create a better life for Noa, and yet it was not enough. Should she have taught her son to suffer the humiliation that she'd drunk like water? In the end, he had refused to suffer the conditions of his birth. Did mothers fail by not telling their sons that suffering would come?