Obasan is an autobiographical novel wrote by author Joy Kogawa and published in 1981. This is the one of the most important books deals with the internment and persecution of Canada Japanese during and after the Second World War through a young child’s eyes. This book helped the Japanese Canadians to get a better life; one novel focuses on so much criticism of how Canadian government treated them. Kogawa uses imagery to describe people’s feelings throughout the novel, such as stones and streams. This novel includes memory and forgetting, prejudice and tolerance and justice.
This autobiographical novel starts with the memories and experiences of Naomi Nakane. She was a 36 year old school teacher who was living in the rural Canadian town of Ceril, Alberta. One day she got a message of the death of her uncle whom she had lived with when she was a child. This message led Naomi to visit and care for her old Aunt Emily. She calls her Obasan; Obasan is A Japanese word that means aunt. In Obasan Emily’s house, they found an old box of correspondence and journals that brought back her painful and suffering experiences as a child during the Second World War and after the Second World War. When the interment began, Naomi did not understand what was happening and nobody tried to explain it to her because she was so young just 5 year old girl, she didn’t know why she lost her mother. She was sexually abused by her neighbor. Then she lost her father when all Japanese have to go to the camps. Then she lived with her aunt Emily, but discrimination and unfair treatment weren’t stop. In the rest of their life, Naomi’s family still torment of the Canadians against the Japanese citizens of Canada. Author mixes two parts of stories together, the past and another is the present. She also mixes experience and recollections, history and memory throughout. For example, Naomi’s aunt saved a lot of letters that recorded their terrible history and so brought them back to their memory.
I feel it’s a little bit hard to get into this novel quickly when I just began with it. Author used a plenty of details of feeling to bring us in. It makes us easy to have a same feeling with the author. Sometimes I may feel I am the one of the characters. This novel is talking facts and history, but Obasan’s became so popular is not only for its deeply thinking story. I am addicted by Obasan because the beautiful language that the author used, so I recommend you to read this deeply feeling book.
This autobiographical novel starts with the memories and experiences of Naomi Nakane. She was a 36 year old school teacher who was living in the rural Canadian town of Ceril, Alberta. One day she got a message of the death of her uncle whom she had lived with when she was a child. This message led Naomi to visit and care for her old Aunt Emily. She calls her Obasan; Obasan is A Japanese word that means aunt. In Obasan Emily’s house, they found an old box of correspondence and journals that brought back her painful and suffering experiences as a child during the Second World War and after the Second World War. When the interment began, Naomi did not understand what was happening and nobody tried to explain it to her because she was so young just 5 year old girl, she didn’t know why she lost her mother. She was sexually abused by her neighbor. Then she lost her father when all Japanese have to go to the camps. Then she lived with her aunt Emily, but discrimination and unfair treatment weren’t stop. In the rest of their life, Naomi’s family still torment of the Canadians against the Japanese citizens of Canada. Author mixes two parts of stories together, the past and another is the present. She also mixes experience and recollections, history and memory throughout. For example, Naomi’s aunt saved a lot of letters that recorded their terrible history and so brought them back to their memory.
I feel it’s a little bit hard to get into this novel quickly when I just began with it. Author used a plenty of details of feeling to bring us in. It makes us easy to have a same feeling with the author. Sometimes I may feel I am the one of the characters. This novel is talking facts and history, but Obasan’s became so popular is not only for its deeply thinking story. I am addicted by Obasan because the beautiful language that the author used, so I recommend you to read this deeply feeling book.
2 comments:
I have found the plot of this book very interesting, because talk about a really bad and sad episode in the history of Canada. I had never imagined that something like that could ever happen in a country like Canada. I would like to read this book to know more about this woeful, and shameful incident that has change the life of many Japanese-Canadians for ever.
You make me feel this book is really interesting and charming. I like books which can express emotions well. However, I don't like history. That's why I didn't read this book. Anyway, I will try it later if I can.
Thank Fox for giving a very good review about the book.
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