Thoughts on Obasan

I have selected the novel Obasan by Joy Kogawa for my final AP writing assignment. The novel, which I read over spring break, is a fictional account of the plight of Japanese-Canadians during World War II. The story is the account of the Kato-Nakane clan, a Japanese-Canadian family, and is told from the point of view of Naomi Nakane, a school teacher in Alberta who was a child during the war. I wrote a research paper for AP US History junior year on the Japanese American Internment and I was surprised to learn that the plight of Japanese Canadians was far worse than that of the Japanese Americans. Even after the war ended, Japanese-Canadians were unable to return to British Columbia and were forced to do agricultural labor on farms in the interior of Canada. I really enjoyed reading this book especially since the dialogue was in both English and Japanese, a language I am fluent in. The mix of Japanese and English elements in the novel made the story come to life for me. I particularly liked how Joy Kogawa countered Naomi’s personal narrative with actual historical data and news-clips from the war and after. They provide a contrast between accepted historical facts and the reality of the situation. The notion that facts can be used to distort the truth is a constant theme throughout the novel. My paper will focus on the key theme of the novel, that knowledge alters identity and responsibility. It is the same theme in Adam and Eve and Oedipus and it is a reality that the protagonist Naomi must face. Naomi has silently endured the pain of what she and her family suffered during the war. Now she must face her fears so that she can speak out against the injustice suffered by her people. As her aunt Emily tells her, to remain silent in the face of injustice is to allow Canadians in the future to suffer a similar fate (325).