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 Repetition in the traumatized is not just a symptom of the haunting past not worked

through; the traumatized are not simply passive victims upon whom the gripping force of

trauma wreaks havoc repeatedly. One of the driving forces behind the uncanny repetition

of the traumatic past is the desire of the traumatized to revisit the past and undo the

unforgettable harm done to them or rectify the wrongs they committed. Repetition is the

royal road to trauma and the troubling past. In Henry's case, reenacting the hurtful past

scenes with a slightly different twist and playing a moderately active part in it enable him

to loosen the tightening grip of guilt the several traumatic deaths of his family members

have woven around him. Kwang is a composite of all those loved ones of Henry whose

deaths caused Henry a tremendous amount of guilt and an equally strong need for

reparation. Henry's action of belatedly pledging loyalty to Kwang by protecting him at

the risk of his own safety is significant in that it puts him on a different life path. It is a

reparative gesture that helps him start to resignify his personal self-narrative, which had

been riddled with betrayal, remorse, and suppressed grief.

 The Language Game and an Open-Ended Ending

 Lee presents a drastically different portrayal of Henry at the end of the novel.

Henry's new job and his changed attitude toward English, in particular, adumbrate a

different life path he will embark on after his terribly disappointing involvement in

Kwang's campaign. In the wake of Kwang's public downfall, Henry quits his job at

Hoagland's firm and starts working with Lelia in her speech therapy after they patch up

their troubled marriage. Although Henry's pursuit of the American family romance is

aborted by the death of his son Mitt and the symbolic death of his surrogate father figure

Kwang, Lee's novel turns his painful experiences into a valuable transformative impetus

that catapults him into an uncharted territory, which is no longer contaminated by the