Analysis Of Obasan By Joy Kogawa

In Obasan, Joy Kogawa highlights the emotional trauma that came with the decision by the Canadian government under Prime Minister Mackenzie King to intern immigrants of Japanese ancestry, even if they held Canadian citizenship. Kogawa is able to convey her points with usage of flashbacks to the period between 1941 and 1949, when the interment took place while the main setting of the story takes place in 1972. The fact that the main storyline takes place in 1972 and the book was published in 1981 underlines the fact that in the 1970s and 1980s, these issues had become a larger point of focus in Canadian society, especially because Canada did not have a true sense of national identity in how it viewed itself. Overall, the novel reveals much about

Very early in the novel, it states, “Uncle could be Chief Sitting Bull squatting here. He has the same prairie baked skin, the deep brown furrows like dry river beds creasing his cheeks. All he needs is a feather headdress, and he would be perfect for a picture postcard - 'Indian Chief from Canadian Prairie' - souvenir of Alberta, made in Japan.” (Kogawa 2) Prior to when the internment began after Japan’s attacks on Pearl Harbor in 1941, Canada had clearly gained a reputation as a diverse nation that was heavily accepting of various minorities. However, with the government of Mackenzie King’s decision to undergo these interments between 1941 and 1949, it is exceptionally clear that this reputation had been shattered, especially with his decision to deport many citizens to occupied Japan starting in 1946. Rao also notes, “The novel in fact problematizes the discourses of ‘official multiculturalism’ which sanctioned Canada as a 'cultural mosaic,' and underscores how in actual fact such policy glossed over the centrality of race in multicultural Canada. Multiculturalism simply ignored ethnicity and it was used to strengthen the dominance of Canada's two major cultures.” (Rao 2004) Basically, Canada’s multicultural society

Kogawa makes it clear to the novel’s readers that this question must be asked when it comes to the actions the Canadian government undertook: with all of the horrible events that took place in these internment camps in Slocan and other Canadian towns, was the pain and the suffering worth it over a war? Given the fact that Obasan is a semi-autobiographical work, it transpires in the minds of readers that these unfortunate, unthinkable actions were very likely ones Joy Kogawa had to deal with in her own life, when her own family was interned at Slocan in British Columbia. Through this, and with how racism and prejudice are rarely associated at all with Canada as a nation, it truly begs the question of whether or not even implicit racism can be found in any country or region, and just how those attitudes can seethe in any society at any given point of time, particularly if a major event provokes such a