Obasan
(Joy Kogawa)
Caught between the differing opinions of two beloved aunts,
Naomi Nakane wonders, is it better to remember or forget? Joy Kogawa?s novel Obasan
explores the themes of truth and memory in the context of the Japanese
Canadian internments during World War Two. The compelling narrative follows the
story of one family caught in the maelstrom of war and racism.. As a result of
the Government of Canada?s order to remove all Japanese nationals from the
coastal areas, Naomi?s father is imprisoned, and her network of friends and
extended family is scattered across the country. Their assets, homes, fishing
boats and other material goods are seized. Many Japanese nationals are
imprisoned, including Naomi?s father, and denied their basic human rights. Her
mother left for a visit to Japan before war broke out in 1941 and never
returned. Nobody speaks of her, not even her aunt, Obasan, who cares for Naomi
and her brother in their parents? absence. With Obasan, her uncle, and her
brother, Naomi is sent to Slocan, a ghost town revived for the purpose of
housing internees. Eventually the family moves to southern Alberta, to work as
farm labourers under a government resettlement program. Far away from the
comfort of urban Vancouver, Naomi suffers poverty, privation and government-sanctioned
racism during her formative childhood years. Obasan wishes to forget her former
life and urges Naomi to do the same. Emily, Naomi?s other aunt, encourages her
to ask questions, to think about the past, and learn about her roots. In 1972,
Naomi returns to her childhood home in Granton, Alberta to attend the funeral
of her uncle, and reunites with her aunts and brother. In this setting, Naomi
finally hears her mother?s story, and begins to grieve, for her uncle, for her
mother, and for the loss of innocence and life as wrought by the war. Joy
Kogowa?s novel integrates historical events with the emotional pull of a
child?s experiences. The reader is haunted, as Naomi is, by the memories of a
lost childhood, by a small girl searching endlessly for her mother, and by the
far-reaching consequences of bigotry in twentieth-century North America.
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