Symbolism In K. Lim's Written In Black

K.H Lim’s novel, Written in Black, follows young boy, Jonathan Lee, who is committed to reunite his family for his grandfather's funeral. The novel follows him on his journey across Bruni, South Korea determined to find answers about his mother's disappearance and brother’s banishment. Through this enduring journey Jonathan is brought into contact with disparate people and discovers friendship and himself. So, to obtain what he is searching for he still has a long way to go. Since he is searching for the truth, through Jonathan’s journey, Lim uses the black ink to symbolize the truth absolute. In the beginning of the novel, Jonathan uses the black ink as a symbol to show the truth absolute. At school, his teacher, Mrs. Yap, preferred blue

This shown by his family keeping him in the dark and his father not allowing him to speak to his mother. Not only is that shown by his family but it is also shown by the poklans, which are cities teenage delinquents. Jonathan took his grandfathers coffin down the backwaters to find his brother when he comes into contact with gang members, one of which he recognizes as one of Michael's friends. This friend named Radzi tells him about a shop with a man who might be able to help. “I’ve got a cousin called Mohidin. He’s got a small shop near Kampung Daun and it’s supposed to be next to a school”(pg 136). Jonathan was not sure if Mohidin would willing to help even if he mentioned Radzis name. At first he did not seem to care about Jonathan's situation about locating his brother to bring him back for the funeral and finding the truth about his mother. But with convincing Mohidin agrees to help Jonathan. When they get to their destination, to enter the building with a guard at the door Jonathan uses his story and mentioning his brothers name to try and enter. “I don’t know man! Hey, are you going to pay up or am I going to have to get the fire extinguisher to use on you”(pg 159). Even by using Michael's name, his story about his mother and just wanting the truth, the guard will not let him enter the building unless Jonathan pays him. To avoid paying the man Jonathan has to prove that he belongs and does this by smoking, which grants him entry to the building where he finds his brother. Still, when the two arrive to the funeral, Senf promises Jonathan a phone call with his mother to ask her anything he wishes to. But he never fulfills his promise and Jonathan is still left in the dark, which shows that the truth is not important to his