Essay on Joy Kogawa's "Obasan"

The Second World War was a harrowing time, made worse by the indiscriminate internment of Japanese. Though only a little girl at that time, Joy Kogawa describes, in her novel Obasan, her experience of the relocation of Japanese Canadians to internment camps. Though resentful and bitter at first, Kogawa's attitude toward the past changes to acceptance as evidenced through her pride and suffering.

As Kogawa's bitterness towards the past mellows, so does her pride. Initially starting each sentence with "we," Kogawa identifies with the accomplishment and indignation of her countrymen. Stating, "We are those pioneers who cleared the brush... with our own hands, the gardeners tending... the soil with our tenderness," she espouses the Japanese merits and denounces the lack of appreciation. With her pride, Kogawa feels the resentment of the wronged innocent. Moreover, describing the Japanese as "hammers and chisels," Kogawa implies that they are useful tools. However, "in the hands of would-be sculptors," those tools do not realize their potential. In the same way, Kogawa sees the detention of all those of Japanese heritage as wasteful. In addition, she also mentions that those deported were "stripped of car, radio, camera and every means of communication." Denied the basic rights as a citizen, Kogawa displays the righteous indignation at the discriminatory and hypocritical practices of the government. As her journey progresses however, Kogawa's pride becomes less prominent. On the train to the internment camp, Kogawa notices "odd bits of luggage." In a humble comparison, she likens the luggage to "the scholarly and the illiterate, the envied and the ugly, the fierce and the docile" Japanese who are all crammed onto the train. She acknowledges the weaknesses of the Japanese such as the "illiterate" and the "ugly" but also the fact that they are all mired in the same situation. No matter how superior the "scholarly" may be, the fact remains that he is headed to the same destination as the "illiterate." Kogawa realizes the uselessness of pride and becomes acceptant towards the fate of the Japanese.

The shift from attention to group suffering to the individual suffering exposes Kogawa's acceptance towards the past. At first, she chooses "weeping," "drowning," and "overladen" to reflect the group emotion. Through this oversimplified generalization, Kogawa establishes that the entire Japanese race is wronged and also her bitterness towards the government for inflicting the suffering on her people. As her journey progresses, Kogawa abandons her immature feelings of resentment and instead adopts a resolution to endure the suffering. By noticing the pain of "Kuniko-san" and the "boy... with a tabby kitten," Kogawa demonstrates her consideration for others. Through these feelings, she shows an interest in cooperating with the other detainees to survive the ordeal. Epitomized in the generous actions of her "Obasan" is the attitude that develops within Kogawa. Though short on food and other supplies, her mother "places a towel and some apples and oranges" in "a square cloth" and presents the gift to the struggling "Kuniko-san." Realizing the futility of contemplating the suffering, Kogawa accepts the situation and instead sees action as an alternative.

As a result of her journey, Kogawa matures from a bitter to an accepting attitude. She learns that though suffering is unfortunate, being prideful will not alleviate the pain. For the Japanese locked in the internment camps, cut off from family and friends, the only solace they find is in cooperation.