Obasan

A detailed Summary of Obasan

"I want to break loose from the heavy identity...I am tired of living between deaths and funerals, weighted with decorum, unable to shout or sing or dance, unable to scream or swear, unable to laugh, unable to breathe out loud." (102). In Joy Kogawa's Obasan. Naomi, a young female of Japanese decent is forced to adapt and grow into the Canadian society. She is faced with great pressures because of the events of WWII and the internment of Japanese Canadians. Her childhood is complicated by the absence of her mother and she is driven to grow up under two separate definitions of womanhood. Guidance is provided by her two aunts, Obasan and Emily. The complication arises due to their contrasting views of life, Japanese and Canadian. Born in Japan, Obasan believes in the more quiet and traditional Japanese lifestyle, based on loving "Silence". Meanwhile, Emily was raised in Canada and attempts are made to teach Naomi to be more outspoken and to form strong moral values. Due to this Naomi is tossed between the guidance of her two aunts, Obasan and Emily, through their differing forms of communication, lifestyle traits and Nisei and Sansei traditions, as a result she forms her own lifestyle path and discovers h

"The house is indeed old, as she is also old. Every home-made piece of furniture, each pot holder and paper doily is a link in her lifeline. She has preserved in shelves, in cupboards, under beds - a box of marbles, half filled colouring books, a red, white and blue rubber ball. The items are endless. Every short stub pencil, every corn-flakes box stuffed with paper bags and old letters is of her ordering. They rest in the corners like parts of her body, hairs cells, skin tissues, tiny specks of memory. This house is now her blood and bones." (15)

The Lifestyle traits of the aunts cause get stresses in Naomi's life, for she must decide between traditional Japanese ways or modern Canadian living. Obasan, lives on the basic requirements of life, while Emily lives in the large metropolis of Toronto, enjoying modern day luxuries. Obasan's house is cluttered with antique furniture and pictures; described by Naomi in the following paragraph:

The differing forms of communication by the two aunts play a role in Naomi's lifestyle choice: Obasan with her use of Japanese silence and Emily through her straight forwardness. Obasan lives her life through a shell that traps her thoughts and feelings inside. She expresses her feelings in her actions and with occasional Japanese phrases. This is evident in the following description by Naomi; "I feel that each breath she takes is weighted with her morality. She is the old woman of many Japanese legends, alone and waiting in her ancient time for the honour that is an old person's reward.". Naomi throughout the book is constantly searching for messages and attempting to find Obasan's love. Complicating the situation for Naomi is the use of the Japanese language by Obasan. Naomi was raised in Canada and had learned only the basic Japanese words. Naomi's brother, Stephen, has totally ignored the Japanese language as we see in this quote, "He grunts as

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Approximate Word count = 1290
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English