Obasan by Joy Kogawa
This essay is going to discuss chapters 29 and 30 of the novel ‘Obasan’ by Joy Kogawa. The first part of the paper is going to briefly summarize the two chapters. In these chapters, the main character, Naomi, had 4 unpleasant experiences that she had to endure. The essay is going to explain how the experiences that Naomi and her family had to endure in these chapters are worse than the time they spent in Slocan.
Brief Summary of Chapters 29 and 30 of ‘Obasan’ by Joy Kogawa
Naomi talks about something that she saw in Aunt Emily’s package; it was a newspaper clipping. Naomi noticed that the topic of the clipping was the conditions of Japanese people who evacuated from Japan to Canada during World War II and are working in white Canadians’ plantations (especially beet plantations).
Naomi finds it painful to remember the tough life conditions that she and her family suffered from during the time they spent in Granton, Alberta. These conditions included: living in a house that was originally built as a chicken coop; drinking unhealthy water; and finding flies and bugs everywhere including beds. Moreover, consolations of community were not allowed in Granton (they were allowed in Slocan). Naomi and her family stayed in Granton between 1945-1948, and in 1949 they returned to Japan.
In Granton, the family—Naomi, Stephen, Uncle and Obasan—received a message from Father. The message says that Grandpa Nakane’s had passed away the day the family left Slocan. Summer was not a pleasant time for young Naomi and Stephen because the weather was too hot for them; for cooling off, they were sitting in a root cellar or in unclean muddy water.
School was a significant source of pain for Naomi and Stephen. Children hated them because they were Japanese. They also used racial remarks to insult them.
What Are the Experiences That Naomi Had to Endure in These Two Chapters?
1. Living at Mr. Barker’s farm under very miserable life conditions without the consolations of community.
2. Receiving Father’s message about Grandpa Nakane’s death.
3. Suffering from the absence of her father who was away at a work camp.
4. Suffering from racial harassment from children at school.
In What Ways Are the Experiences in These Chapters Worse Than
the Time Naomi and Her Family Spent in Slocan?
In Slocan, Naomi and her family had experienced some unpleasant incidents and events like: Naomi’s unsuccessful attempt to swim that almost cost her her life; and experiencing rudeness from people at the public bathhouse. However, these unpleasant experiences were just incidents. Moreover, their life conditions were considered acceptable for an evacuee family. They had a house that they shared with an elderly lady called Nomura-obasan. Uncle and Stephen had the chance to build a garden in the yard of this house.
The problem about the experiences in Granton was that they were continuous and they were a part of the family’s lifestyle. Naomi and her family didn’t enjoy decent life conditions there. Living and working at Mr. Barker’s farm was the worst thing they had to deal with. Their house was originally a chicken coop. Bugs and flies were found everywhere including beds. Muddy water was an important part of their painful life; they drank from this water and used it for cooling off in summer. A big cause of pain for Naomi was the absence of her father who was away at a work camp. Naomi and Stephen suffered at school because children used racial remarks and names to insult them.
Conclusion
Naomi and her family suffered from different kinds of bad experiences including physical and emotional ones. The experiences that the family suffered from in Granton (chapters 29 and 30) were worse than those in Slocan because these experiences were continuous and more related to the family’s fundamental rights. It is noticed that when white Canadians get involved in this family’s life, they add more pain to it. The interaction with white people was very clear in chapters 29 and 30. The family lived and worked at Mr. Barker’s farm. He didn’t care about providing appropriate life conditions for them. Naomi and Stephen started to attend school; they suffered from racial harassment from children there. The cause of this common negative attitude was the fact that racism was widley accepted in the Canadian society during the 1940s.
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