Obasan Essay, Research Paper

?Keep your eyes down. When you are in the city, do not look into anyone?s face. That

way they may not see you. That way you offend less.?

The novel, Obasan tells the story of a Japanese family?s efforts to survive the

trauma of separation from their homes and eachother. The novel was written in 1981 by

Joy Kogawa and tells the details of how the Japanese were discriminated against during

World War 2. The novel commences in the seventies with Naomi Nah Nakane a teacher in

Northern Alberta finding out that her beloved uncle has died. When Naomi returns home

to console her Aunt Obasan, she is distraught to see her aunt is only a shell of the strong

woman who raised her. She begins to relive the difficulties of her life after she discovers a

package left by her Aunt Emily. The package is filled with letters, documents, articles,

papers…….and memories.

She recounts the struggle against the government and themselves while trying to

stay in Vancouver. Naomi is very small at the time of the war and did not really fully

understand what was happening to her race. The novel recounts the struggle of Naomi?s

Aunt Emily to ensure that her family would be together in whatever place they were sent

to. Aunt Emily wanted to head east to Toronto, but was unable to get the documentation

for the entire family which included her sister?s children, who she was taking care of. The

novel discuses the camps that the Japanese families were sent to in Hastings Park during

the war. The detained families were forced to live in horrendous conditions, sharing living

quarters with strangers, without adequate food and supply, and the pungent smell of

manure.

Naomi during this time was being sexually molested by her next door neighbor and

did not tell anybody about this, this possibly relates to the novels theme of silence. Naomi

seems resentful during the novel, as she comes across as a quiet little girl, who does not

seem to interact with many people. Aunt Emily finally finds a place in Slocan for the family

to go live, but just before they leave finds out her and her immediate family could go to

Toronto. This leaves Aunt Emily going to Toronto and everybody else moving to

Toronto. In the end almost everybody ends up dying leaving the legacy of their family to

deteriorate as has the trust in the Canadian government.

The novel had many strengths and weaknesses. One of the main focuses in the

novel is the great detail in which described how the Japanese were treated, even though

they were Canadian citizens. One major weakness was the failure to distinguish between

present time and the past, which leaves the reader in slight confusion.

Altogether the novel was not only a story of Naomi?s family, but a story of history

told through the eyes of someone who faced the reality of it.