Crying in H Mart Chapters 10–12 Summary & Analysis

Summary: Chapters 10–12

Chapter 10: Living and Dying

Devastated by the news, Michelle agrees to meet her parents for a two-week trip to Korea. When she arrives in Nami’s apartment, however, her mother is very ill. Michelle convinces the rest of the family that she needs to go to the hospital, and resumes spending the nights sleeping next to her mother’s hospital bed. With her mother too sick to fly home, the family stays in Korea, cancelling their flights to Jeju Island and Oregon. Her mother’s illness compounds itself, and she suffers from edema, herpes, and other maladies. Michelle arrives at the hospital one day to find her father yelling at Seong Young and a nurse; her mother has gone into septic shock. They place her mother on a ventilator, and Michelle questions whether they can consider her mother truly alive at this point. However, a few hours later she is lucid, prompting Michelle’s father to plan their trip home. Michelle calls Peter and tells him that she wants to get married in three weeks, so that her mother can have something to look forward to and to distract them all. Peter agrees, and they begin to plan their wedding.

Chapter 11: What Procellous Awesomeness Does Not in You Abound?

Michelle reflects on falling in love with Peter. They first meet at a karaoke night in Philadelphia, and though she immediately falls for him, her feelings are unrequited. She schemes to make him like her, getting him a job at the restaurant where she works. One night he suffers a near-fatal attack in an alleyway and Michelle realizes she really does love him. By the time he is released from the hospital, he has fallen in love with her too.

Michelle plans the wedding with Peter and her mother. During this time, Kye returns and Michelle’s mother allows herself to be converted to Christianity as a favor to Kye, even though she has resisted religion her whole life and believes instead in reincarnation. When the day of the wedding comes, her friends help her prepare, and she goes to ask her mother’s opinion on her appearance. Her mother says she looks perfect, and Michelle remarks that no one can make her feel as beautiful as her mother does. The wedding is a success, held in her parent’s backyard, and Michelle and Peter end the night drunk and asleep in their hotel room.

Chapter 12: Law and Order

After the wedding, things are quiet in the house. Michelle’s mother is weak and spends most of her time in bed, watching TV and sleeping. One night she and Michelle are watching Law and Order. During a scene in which a woman is talking about her mother’s death, they hold each other and begin to weep. At that moment, Kye returns home, drunk, and Michelle’s mother says something to her in Korean. When Kye won’t tell Michelle’s father what she said, he gets angry and follows her upstairs to argue. When he comes back downstairs he is regretful, asking Michelle to convince her to stay. However, Kye is adamant about leaving immediately; she packs her things and waits for a taxi on the porch. Michelle tells her mother, who absent-mindedly says she thinks Kye had a nice time.