In the novel Re Jane, Jane’s Uncle Sang mentions, “‘everytime I walking by construction site [of the Twin Towers], they building one more story…always feel little bit like we growing up together” (Park 154). Based on this information, he immigrated to Queens on or around 1966, when the first Twin Tower was constructed. The Twin Towers are significant to the story–they bring Jane and Sang back together in the second half, and they also represent Sang’s change into the man he is in the story. Although Sang is hard on Jane, he is distraught when he cannot find her after 9/11. 

Sang and Jane’s relationship is strained due to Sang’s insistence that Jane focus on being a “good” member of the family–in other words, he is extremely traditional, where Jane pushes those boundaries. In Korean culture, the family is the driving force behind all decisions. Sang, for example, gives up his dreams of going to Seoul University to follow his father’s orders and go to America. He raises Jane even though he knows she is almost an outcast in his culture–frowned upon for having mixed blood. 

According to Kyeyoung Park, the first Koreans to settle in New York “settle[d] in Queens” (9). When Jane asks why her grandfather would choose to send Sang overseas, Emo tells her, “it takes a certain kind of person to go through immigration…only the strongest can pull themselves back together again” (Park 240). Under the Immigration Act of 1965 required immigrants “have no adverse effect on wages and working conditions” (K. Park 13). Therefore, Sang’s intelligence and willingness to work were traits which worked in his favor. His father knew he would work hard, and he could withstand leaving his family behind. Emo’s answer was twofold–Sang had the mental and emotional strength to start over in a country where he knew no one and had no family to help him. 

Sang’s strength in coming to America reflects Jane’s strength in coming to Korea. Jane, facing cultural criticism and new social norms, continues to overcome each adversary in her way. Sang, although he is condescending and unmoving at times, prepared Jane for her time in Korea. Much like Sang, she had to learn to navigate her new country, advocating for herself, and continuing her strong ties with family. It is Sang’s example of strength and love which helps Jane find herself–ultimately leading up to the end of her relationship with Ed, and her independence in the end of the novel. 

Park, Kyeyoung. “Korean Migration to America: Dependent Development and ‘American Fever.’” The Korean American Dream: Immigrants and Small Business in New York City, Cornell University Press, 1997, pp. 7–35, http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctv5rf2p7.7.

Park, Patricia. Re Jane. New York, New York. Penguin Publishing Group, 2015.

World Trade Center . undefined. Britannica Academic, Encyclopædia Britannica, 3 Mar. 2022. academic-eb-com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/levels/collegiate/assembly/view/180491. Accessed 3 Apr. 2022.