The Theme of Motherhood in Obasan

A detailed Summary of The Theme of Motherhood in Obasan

Chinese writer Lin Yutang once said, "Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother." However, the word mother does not always apply to a woman who gives birth to a child, but a woman who gives maternal love and tenderness. The role of mother in the novel Obasan was passed down to the three main female figures of the novel. Naomi's biological mother, Obasan and Aunt Emily each took equal part in the raising of Naomi and Stephen in their unique ways.

Naomi's mother actions and manner of life makes her a good mother figure for the children in the novel. Naomi's mother shows great compassion with her children and all other things. Compassion is an essential trait that one would most likely need to be a good mother. However, Naomi's mother displays her affection differently than what we may normally consider compassion. She shows it as a Japanese mother.

"Her eyes are steady and matter of fact - the eyes of Japanese motherhood. They do not invade and invade. They are eyes that protect, shielding what is hidden most deeply in the heart of the child. She makes safe the small stirrings underfoot and in the shadows."(Kogawa, 63)

By showing compassion within her subtleties, Naomi's mother shows signs of motherhood.

Obasan is the 2nd main female figure that Naomi really knows in her life. Obasan is a quiet woman who shows great compassion in raising both Naomi and Stephen. Obasan takes over the role primarily on the train ride to Slocan. That instance as well she shows herself to be a very caring compassionate woman.

Aunt Emily was also best exemplified as a mother figure in the novel when the children find out about their mother. By orders from the children's actual mother, Emily kept Mother's fate a secret until she thought that they could actually handle it. However, she wanted to spare the feelings of the children even though they might have been ready to take all the horrible news. " 'Yes,' she says softly. 'We ought to tell them. I always thought we should. But...kodomo na tame-----.'" (255) Emily's maternal sense thinks that the children's feeling should be spared before the truth. However, everyone grows up some day.

Aunt Emily is the Japanese Canadian activist of the family. So, her maternal role is to inform the children about the outside world and how unfair it really is. This could either be taken two ways: The children may understand and make them more aware of what the world is like, or they may become very angry at the world for what they did to their people. Never the less, Aunt Emily tries to teach the children that life is not always fair. "We have to deal with all this while we remember it. If we don't, we will pass our anger down in our genes. It's the children who'll suffer." (38) She tries to contain her emotions when telling the children about the stories, trying to null out the anger. Aunt Emily ignoring her own feelings to make sure the children are not hurt makes her a good mother.

Obasan also teaches the children to respect other people in

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Approximate Word count = 1196
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English