Haley Hopkins

Ms. Nichole Wilson

AP Literature and Composition

20 May 2014

In some works of literature, a character who appears briefly, or does not appear at all, is a

significant presence. Choose a novel or play of literary merit and write an essay in which you

show how such a character functions in the work. You may wish to discuss how the character

affects action, theme, or the development of other characters. Avoid plot summary.

Her name was never mentioned and her physical appearance in the novel lasted for all of

18 pages. She was the late Second Mate’s wife, she wore a yellow dress, and her presence was

essential to Johnson’s novel The Orphan Master’s Son. As the first woman in Jun Do’s life to

show him any care and compassion – and also the first to show romantic interest in him - the

Second Mate’s wife proves to be an important character, as she forces Jun Do to choose between

what he thinks his heart wants, and what is morally correct.

The first time Jun Do saw the Second Mate’s wife was when he woke up from a brutal

beating, covered in a “yellow sheet” (91). She immediately began to bathe him, soaking a hot

cloth and running it “along the ridges of all of his scars” (92). Jun Do had been beaten on many

occasions prior to his most recent, but never, ever had anyone – let alone a woman – shown him

compassion and care afterward. These actions lead Jun Do to begin to quickly grow attached to

her; when she bathed after him, he could hear “faint sound of the cloth on her skin” (93) and he

“wondered if it was the same cloth she’d used on him.” Jun Do quickly begins to express his

feelings for the Second Mate’s wife and how much he has come to care about her in such a short

time. When she comes back from the bar crying one evening because a bunch of men were

fighting over her, he told her, “Those guys are local bureaucrats. They’re nobodies” (100). At

this point, Jun Do has mixed feelings about whether or not he wants to be with the Second

Mate’s wife, so he is simply comforting her to show he cares. However, his feelings change

rapidly when he goes to grab a jar from her and she “doesn’t let go” (101). It is then that he

notices that the “candlelight made her eyes look bottomless.” Suddenly, he does not want the

night to end, because the candle would be blown out, leaving the room “as dark as the sea and

the Second Mate upon it” (101). This is the first time it becomes clear that Jun Do is having to

choose between his heart and his head; he feels sick thinking about the Second Mate as he floats

in the darkness, and does not want to take his wife, but she is also incredibly beautiful and the

first woman to ever get this close to him.

Jun Do never had a mother figure in his life; therefore, when the Second Mate’s wife

takes on the role of a mother – at least, partially – Jun Do falls for her, as this is the first time he

is experiencing any form of love. When Jun Do hears her sing a “children’s lullaby” (110), he

continues to fall for her and her voice, so “simple and pure.” He wonders if he recognized the

lullaby because “someone..sung them to him, from before he could remember.” Essentially, he is

wondering if his mother sung to him before she abandoned him at the orphanage. The connection

Jun Do draws between the Second Mate’s wife and his mother make his feelings for the Second

Mate’s wife even stronger. They peak when he sees her in her “yellow dress” (111). It becomes

apparent at this point that yellow is a symbol for love and caring; Jun Do wakes under yellow

sheets that she must have provided for him, and now she is adorned in a yellow dress. All Jun Do

sees the Second Mate’s wife as is someone who truly and deeply cares for him, and that is all he

wants. When the interrogators come to separate them, she tells him, “Tell them to go away, tell

them you’re marrying me” (114). Jun Do responds by saying, “You don’t want to marry me,” in

both a display of vulnerability and an attempt to not have to make a decision in the matter. The

Second Mate’s wife tells him he is a hero and she’s a “hero’s wife,” and he almost goes with her.

However, she then tells him, “You’re the baby in the tree, and you just need to trust me.” This

makes him “pause” as he retracts his decision, realizing that the Second Mate’s wife will only

ever be a mother figure to him, and he needs more than that. He needs true love from a

companion, not just a mother.

Had the Second Mate’s wife not physically appeared in the novel, Jun Do would not have

realized early on what kind of love he truly needs. Yes, he needs love from a sort of mother

figure; but he also needed that long ago, and it is too late to make up for lost time. Now, he needs

true love, and he cannot have it with the wife of someone he used to be good friends with, who

only cared for him in the way a mother cares for her son. The Second Mate’s wife, the woman in

the yellow dress, is a beautiful reminder that although all forms of love can heal, not all are right.