Treeless Mountain (2009) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Their mother left them with Big Aunt after their family's apartment was emptied of furniture, indicating their father had left or died. Unable to provide for them alone and facing dire circumstances, she placed them with their paternal aunt, leaving a piggy bank with the promise that she would return once they filled it with good behavior rewards.

Foreshadowing: The emptying of their apartment earlier signaled the family's dissolution and the mother's impending decision.

• mother abandonment
• big aunt
• family separation
• father gone

Big Aunt received a letter from the mother explaining her struggles with luck and their father, admitting she couldn't provide for the children. She kept it hidden, likely out of shame or uncertainty about how to tell the girls their mother was sending them away again. Only after considerable time did she reveal the letter's existence.

• mother letter
• big aunt
• hidden letter
• abandonment

When the girls asked their grandmother for winter shoes, they noticed her own footwear was worn out and tattered. Moved by her kindness in welcoming them despite their grandfather's displeasure, they chose to sacrifice their precious piggy bank, their only connection to their mother's promised return, to help her buy new shoes.

• piggy bank
• grandmother
• sacrifice
• shoes
• gift

Despite discovering their mother's number was disconnected and receiving a letter where she admitted she couldn't care for them, the sisters made a pinky swear promise to each other that she would eventually come back. This represents their refusal to fully abandon hope and their deep bond as sisters facing abandonment together.

• pinky swear
• hope
• mother return
• sisters promise

The father is never directly explained in the film. The apartment being emptied of furniture while Jin was at school suggests he left or passed away. Their mother mentions in her letter that luck hasn't been on her side with their father, implying he abandoned the family or died.

• father
• family
• absent father
• emptied apartment

The sisters used a young man's cell phone to call their mother, desperate to reach her. However, they discovered her number was disconnected, revealing she had cut off communication entirely. Despite this devastating news, they continued waiting at the bus stop where they last saw her.

• phone call
• disconnected number
• bus stop
• mother absence

Big Aunt struggled with alcoholism, frequently passing out or remaining too hungover to fulfill her caregiving duties. This left the young sisters to fend for themselves, finding food, managing their limited resources, and navigating their new environment largely on their own.

• big aunt
• alcoholic
• neglect
• caretaker failure

A local boy gifted Bin roasted grasshoppers, inspiring the sisters to cook and sell them to earn money. Their goal was to fill the piggy bank their mother left, believing that once it was full, their mother would return as promised. This entrepreneurial effort gave them purpose during their difficult wait.

• grasshoppers
• piggy bank
• earning money
• summer
• entrepreneurship

The grandfather expressed displeasure at the girls being brought to the farm, viewing them as an added burden to an already modest household. His reaction reflected the economic struggles of the family and possibly resentment at having to care for grandchildren no one else could support.

• grandfather
• displeasure
• burden
• farm
• grandparents

The mother's letter revealed she had been unable to provide for the children and had failed to find luck with their father. Rather than return for them, she arranged for them to stay with their maternal grandparents on the farm, effectively abandoning them. Her disconnected phone number confirmed she had moved on without them.

• mother never returned
• abandonment
• letter
• disconnected phone