Protagonist and Narrator 1. Naomi

(Megumi Naomi Nakane) 

Family members1. Mother2. Father (Tadashi/Mark Nakane)   3. Stephen

Mother- Never returned after she went to Japn to tend her mother- focus of Naomi’s obsessive love and thoughts

Naomi’s father

- An elegant man, Father helped Uncle design and build boats- comes and goes in and out of Naomi’s life in a way that totally mystifies Naomi.

Stephen- Naomi’s brother - three years older than Naomi- becomes a lauded concert pianist

Aunts and Uncles 1. Obasan (Ayako Nakane) 2.Uncle (Isamu/Sam Nakane)  3. Emily Cato 

Obasan- Uncle’s wife- takes responsibility for Naomi and Stephen after they are orphaned. - Tanditional

Uncle-A boatbuilder.-Grandma Nakane’s son by her first husband, Grandpa Nakane’s cousin.- older than his brother, Naomi’s father. -father figure for Naomi and Stephen.

- marries Ayako, whom

Naomi calls Obasan

Emily Cato-Naomi’s fifty-six-year-old maternal aunt-unmarried -lives in Toronto-A firebrand and lover of words- nudges and prods Naomi toward a full understanding of her personal history.

Grandparent1. Grandpa Nakane2. Grandma Nakane3. Dr. Kato4. Grandma Kato

Grandpa Nakane

-Naomi’s paternal grandfather-a boat builder -the first of Naomi’s grandparents to move to Canada.

Grandma Nakane-Naomi’s paternal

grandmother and Uncle’s

mother- imprisoned in

Vancouver Hastings Park, an internment camp, during

World War II.

Dr. Kato-Naomi’s maternal

grandfather.

Grandma Kato- Naomi’s maternal grandmother-whose letters that finally reveal the truth about what happened to Naomi’s mother-Initially she agreed not to speak, hoping that keeping quiet would moderate the pain, but eventually she decided that the only way she could ease her discomfort was by sharing her grief.

Character

Character Tree of Obasan

Others (1)1. Nakayama-sensei2. Nomura-obasan3. Old Man Gower4. Rough Lock Bill5. Mrs. Sugimoto6. Uncle Dan7. Eiko and Fumi 

Nakayama- sensei- An Anglican minister- happens to move around more or less in concert with Uncle and Obasan, winding up in Slocan with them.

Nomura-obasan-An elderly, ill woman -with whom Naomi, Stephen, and Obasan share their house in Slocan -recovers enough to return to her daughter’s care.

Mrs. Sugimoto-A friend of Naomi’s mother.-fussy, prying -falls apart when her husband is forced to move to an internment camp.

Rough Lock Bill-lives near the lake in Slocan.-saves Naomi from drowning

Old Man Gower-Naomi’s next-door neighbor in Vancouver- molests Naomi on multiple occasions

Uncle Dan-An intelligence officer for Canada in the Far East-a close friend of naomi's father, which made she call him Uncle.

Eiko and Fumi-Aunt Emily’s friends during wartime.

Others (2) 8. Kenji9. Miyuki 10. Sachiko11. Saito-ojisan12. Mr. Barker13. Mrs. Barker14. Vivian Barker15. Penny Barker 16. Setsuko17. Tomio 18. Chieko

Kenji-One of Stephen and Naomi’s classmates in Slocan-leaves Naomi to drown in the lake.-whose family goes to Japan, under government orders

Miyuki-one of the classmates of Naomi's-delicate and well dressed.

Sachiko-A high-school aged girl Naomi knows in Slocan.-cares lovingly for her grandfather, Saito-ojisan.

Saito-ojisan-Sachiko’s grandfather-Saito-ojisan is an aged, shaky man.

Mr. Barker-Owner of the beet farm on which Naomi’s family works-man of good intentions-However he allowed his workers to live in subhuman conditions.  

Mrs. Barker-first wife of Mr. Barker-dislikes Naomi and Stephen and doesn’t want her daughter to play with them.

Vivian Barker-second wife of Mr. Barker-seems uncomfortable in Obasan’s house.

Penny Barker-Daughter of the Barkers

-cruel to Stephen and Naomi. Setsuko

-Naomi’s mother’s cousin-Both eyes are gouged out during the bombing, and her skin comes off in strips

Setsuko’s son-survives the bombing, but wanders off and is never found.

Chieko-Setsuko’s baby- closely resembles Naomi-dying of leukemia Naomi 

Two Main Characters are Megumi Naomi Nakane and Emily Cato

1. Naomi, thirty-six-year-old schoolteacher, has a painful past that she tries very hard to forget. She is frightened, mentally tormented, fascinated by her shocking childhood memories, while she was refreshing her experience of the past unconsciously. Reading through the packages of letters Aunt Emily had brought to her, Naomi is often wondering “what has Aunt Emily trying to accomplish through all this correspondence?” (p53) Naomi feels exhausted with the effort of remembering the past, because she thinks that she is escaping the present by delving into the past, and vice versa. All in all, Naomi, as a grown up adult, finally discovered the dark side of Canadian history, learned the misfortune of her people, the Japanese-Canadian, during WWII, and uncovered the truth about what had happened to her mother. Naomi is an innocent Japanese-Canadian, a struggler of past and present, and a remainder of her unfortunate family.

2. Emily Cato is a fifty-sis-year-old maternal aunt of Naomi. Aunt Emily is very brave, talkative and resentful at the way Canadian democracy behaves. Aunt Emily hold very different views on what Japanese Candian should do, and how they should feel about Canada’s racist past than Uncle, Obasan, and Naomi. She believes that Japanese-Canadians should remember what had happened to them and deal with their repressed feelings. Unlike Naomi, who feels that there is no sense in raking up past injustices, Aunt Emily is a more radical, and extreme, thinking it is necessary for the Canadian government to take responsibility for Japanese-Canadian who suffered through WWII. Aunt Emily is an activist who is constantly attending conferences, a voluminous library of information, whose newspaper clippings, passages, letters of the past history constantly fluttered out in the novel and an enemy of Canadian government.

Strong statement that outlines the motivation of the protagonist:

Naomi is determined to walk out of the past and mitigate the pain inflicted on her during her childhood. On the other hand, she was motivated with anger, when she found out that her mother had requested Uncle and Obasan to be silent towards what had happened to her. Naomi says that silence destroyed them both, by stating “we were lost together in our silences.”

A character that represents my beliefs, values and/or personality:

I think Aunt Emily has similar beliefs with me. For example, if I were to find out all of those injustices, ill-treatment and horrible actions taken against my people, just based on racial discrimination, I would resist as well, since I believe it is right for us to speak up our rights in a

democratic country. Even though I don’t have as much sense of justice as Aunt Emily, we share the same values in our beliefs. We think it is right to do what we think is right and do not cringe.

Setting

Visual representation:

Analysis of representation:A) Why is this setting important to the characters in the novel?

Those two images illustrate the racial discrimination against Canadian-Japanese in the book. The photo on the left, states very clearly that people of the Japanese racial origin were prohibited to enter some areas. And the photo on the right is straightforward, asking people with Japanese race to leave the white man’s neighborhood. It is important to the characters in the novel, since most of the ongoing issues they have to confront was caused by the prejudices against their race. Also, the reason that the novel Obassan was

written is because Joy Kogawa wanted to focus on the fact that Canada, a democratic nation, had strong racial discrimination against people with Japanese origin.

B) How am I impacted by the setting? How did it make me feel?I am greatly impacted by the setting, because it is really hard for me to imagine how people feel about when so many unfair and unjust actions are taken against one group of people just based on their skin color, oriental features. After observing the two pictures above, I can feel how repressed and helpless they must have been. All in all, Japanese-Canadian must have suffered a lot in order to survive. In addition, I now have a negative impression on the administration of Canadian government’s justice.

C) What message did I wish to convey from my visual representation?From my visual representation I want to show how innocent and guiltless was being a Canadian-Japanese back in the 1939 when the Second World War first started. I also want to recognize and apologize those Issei and Nisei for their loss of human quality. The criticism and discrimination against as well as all those morally wrong actions taken against them were totally undeserved.

PlotAugust 9, 1972~ Sept. 13, 19721. Naomi, in her school, received a phone call from Dr. Brace from the hospital in

Granton. And he told her that her Uncle had passed away. (CH 2)

A)

B) “There is an odd sensation like an electrical jolt but not so sharp-a dull twitch

simultaneously in the back of my head and in my abdomen” (Page11)

“My mind is working strangely, as if it has separated and hovers above me,

ordering me to action from a safe distance, like a general. (Page 11)

C) Naomi was badly jarred by the sad news that her uncle had passed away. Even

though Naomi did not weep, it is still obvious that she was mentally depressed,

due to her immediate action to ask for leave. It is clear that Uncle must be an

excellent provider and father figure for Naomi, which made she so melancholy .

19411. Old Man Gower, the next-door neighbor used to carry Naomi away. And

Naomi always make her promise that she will never tell her mother.( CH11)

A)

B) “He caresses my head as if I were a small animal.” (p75)“I wish to go to my mother.”(p75)“I am unfamiliar with such darkness” (p75)“But I do not wish him to see me half undressed” (76)

C) It is clear that Naomi was being sexually abused. After all, this is probably how Naomi was changed to a quiet and speechless person who stays silent during most of the time. Instead to tell her mother, Naomi decided to be mute and tell her mother that She sought out Old Man Gower of her own volition. Not being able to tell her mother what was going on also tore her heart apart.

2. Separation took place. Naomi’s mother was the first to disappear. (CH12)

A)

B)” Father is holding my hand and asking foolishly if I can see my mother.” (79) “In what marketplace of the universe are the bargains made that have traded my need for my

Great-grandmother’s?”(p80)

C) Naomi is losing her mother. Her mother was born in Canada, but raised in Japan by her grandmother “Obaa-chan” who is very ill. And now Naomi’s mother has to go back to tend Naomi’s great-grand mother. Naomi wonders if her mother would return to Canada, even though she believes she will. Unfortunately, this is the last sight Naomi can have of her mother.

1943 1. When Naomi was in the public bathhouse, two unfriendly women whispered and started

at Naomi, and hurried two girls, sisters and schoolmates of Naomi’s, out of the bath. Later, the girls explained that their mother said Naomi and every in her family had TB.

A)

B) “ The two women are wispering to Reiko and Yuki and avoiding all contact with us,

greeting us neither formally nor informally. Obasan and Nomura-obasan also have

their heads down.” (P194)

“ You’re sick. You’ve all got TB. You and the Nomuras and your dad.”(p197)

“What is TB?” (p197)

“For some people it is a shameful matter to be ill. But it is a matter of misfortune, not

shame.”(P197)

C) Naomi’s suffering and terror are entirely internal. She did not know what was happening around her. And she cannot figure out why her friends were sick of her, until Reiko told her that she and her entire family have got TB” This is obviously not true. Accusing people of getting tuberculosis just based on the origin is also considered a form of racial discrimination.

19721. The experience of Naomi’s mother had finally revealed through the letters from Grandma Koto. Naomi listened intently and carefully, with a fever of patience.

A)

B) “Please read, Sensei,” (P282)

“Mother, I am listening. Assist me to hear you. (P288)

C) Finally, after such long years, Naomi is no longer a child. She and Stephen deserve to know what happened to their mother. The questions that have been lying deep under her mind are finally answered. Although, Naomi understands and forgives her mother’s desire to keep silent about the atrocities she saw, and suffered, in the end Naomi seems to feel that the silence was not worth the price. It is better to know everything.

Wright about the main internal conflict faced by the main character:

So deep inside Naomi’s heart, one of the main internal conflicts she has to face about life is probably the idea of silence versus voice. Naomi struggles to come to grips with her painful past. She grew up under the influence of two of her aunts, Obasan and Aunt Emily. Obasan and Aunt Emily both have totally different way of viewing life. While Obasan, who chose to remain in the traditional Japanese lifestyle, lived in her silent territory with her husband, Uncle, Aunt Emily who is vigorous and outspoken wrote hundreds of letters and correspondence to government protesting against the injustices the Canadian government was imposing on them, the Japanese-Canadian.

Naomi did not understand the circumstance she and her people were in. As a child all she learnt was that her mother and father would never return, due to some obscure reasons. As an adult Naomi is then separated from her brother,Stephen, who moved away and tried to avoid his Japanese identity. Naomi was not sure whether she should speak up all those or keep silent, pretending nothing had ever happened, during her childhood. Ultimately, Naomi decided to be silent, since the act of recollection the past often filled Naomi’s mind with fear. However, after the talk with Aunt Emily over and over, Naomi is half-convinced that Aunt Emily is right, and that to forget the past is to cripple one’s self. She always wondered “what was Aunt Emily trying to accomplish through all this correspondence” (p53) Naomi felt exhausted with the effort of remebering the past, because she thinks that she is escaping the present by searching into the past, and vice versa.

To Naomi, silence is to forget about the past, whereas voice is to remember about the past. Each of Kogawa’s characters has their opinions about the question “Is it better to remember, or to forget?” Naomi is sort on the middle ground, closer to the side of voice. In other words, Naomi had a similar point of view with Uncle and Obasan, who believe that the past should be left in the past rather than dragged out and held up to the light. On the other hand, Aunt Emily believe that it is best for all the victims to spread the past wrongs, so that people would ensure that tragedies will never happen again. Naomi had to face the dilemma between the two options, in order to solve her internal conflict. However, in the end of the story, Naomi seems to feel that the silence was not worth the price, and speaking out loud was the key to move forward, or else the pain will never be eased.

Theme1)

One of the most important themes throughout the novel is that Naomi continues to recall the happy times she and her family had shared together before they were separated.

One of the symbols used throughout the novel of “Obasan” is the Naomi’s recollection of the time when her family is playing music together. It was one of the few moments in which they have shared joy and happiness together as a peaceful family, before they were separated unwillingly and helplessly, by the war and Canadian government. Both Stephen and Naomi long for this kind of warmth to return. This is why

Stephen plays his mother’s record over and over again; so as to remember his mother. In short, playing instruments as one serene family is one of the few good memories they had shared, which symbolizes the togetherness of the family that is lost forever.

2) The main theme throughout the novel is the role of racism. In fact, this theme is so significant, because the entire tragedy is caused by racism against Japanese Canadians. In the novel, the Japanese Canadians suffered racial discrimination at the hands of the government and other many people in Canada, who consider them as inferiors and the enemy of the state. The reason is mainly because Canadian government viewed each individual of Japanese-Canadian as their nation who had just recently bombed the Pearl Harbor in United States. Moreover, even Germans in Canada were not treated as badly as Japanese-Canadians were treated by Canadians. It is all due to the fact that Japanese-Canadians have oriental faces that look very different the Whites. Furthermore, Japanese-Canadians were thrown into the prison and mistreated like animals. In fact, racism is shown through the entire story with various occasions. For instance, the quote “the kitten cries day after day not quite dead, unable to climb out and trapped in the outhouse. The maggots are crawling in its eyes and mouth. Its fur covered with feces.”(p172) describes what Canadian government had down to Japanese-Canadians. In fact, the Canadian government tried to get rid of Japanese-Canadians by sending them to ghost towns and concentration camps, just like the outhouse in the imagery. What the Canadian government was trying to do was to break the connection with Japan and diminish Japanese-Canadian community within Canada.

Racism also plays a very significant role in our lives, because in this democratic social society where we all live in, people should have equal human rights. Just because others look different or have different skin color does not mean he/she is less important or is more animal like or subordinate. In short, we should always treat one another justly and equally as well as fairly, in order to keep this world a peaceful place for people to live in.

Personal Reflections

One True Quote About Life: “We must always honor the wishes of others before our own. We will make the way smooth by restraining emotion . . . To try to meet one’s own needs in spite of the wishes of others is to be “wagamama”—selfish and inconsiderate . . . It is such a tangle trying to decipher the needs and intents of others.” (Ch18, P151)

This is a very true statement about life. This is what Naomi learned from Obasan. Wagamama is a Japanese word meaning selfish and inconsiderate as it is said in the quote. In fact, what Joy Kogawa, the author of the novel, really wants to tell her reader is the importance of being emotionally restrained. Being emotionally restrained is not for the sake of saving our own dignity, but for the sake of other people’s happiness. Even though sometimes restraining emotion may be difficult, it can certainly make the way soother and easier to pass. If people choose to restrain their emotion and be serene, then others around you will feel more comfortable. In turn, the more comfortable one feels the uneasiness more he/she has to go through. In the novel, Obasan is the most successful character who accomplished in restraining her display of emotion. She put the needs of others above her own, which makes her the most silent and inexpressive character in the novel. Even though, consideration for others is good and important, sometimes, it is not really right, as Joy Kogawa says on the last sentence of this passage, “It is such a tangle trying to decipher the needs and intents of others.”(p151) Suppression of emotion can sometimes lead to total disaster. It is just like Naomi’s mother, in the story. Naomi’s mother spent too much time on thinking about what her daughter or son would feel which ended up neglecting her own needs. All in all, to place the desires of other people above your own desire is to assume that other people are just as well-inteioned as you are, and their desires are just as majestic.

One Question to ask the author:

If I could meet the author, I would ask her does she like Canada today. If she says, “Yes”, then I want to ask her what makes her forgive Canada. However, if she says, “No”, then I want to ask her what Canada could do to make her gain a new and good perspective on Canada. The reason that I want to ask this kinds of questions, is not because I want to study how much hatred Canada had built in Japanese-Canadian, but rather because I believe Canada today is a more successful and democratic nation than before.

What will I always remember about this novel?

After I finished reading this book, the persecution in which Canadian government, during WWII, had made Japanese-Canadians suffer carve deep into my heart. I will always remember what terrible actions or policies Canadian government had once imposed on Japanese-Canadians. Last and not least, I hope by remembering this unjust historical event, things like this will never repeat again in the future times.

Naomi

Family tree of Naomi