Joy Kogawa Essays

Joy Kogawa's Obasan is a representation of the silence Japanese Canadians experience specifically in the past as they have been repressed from telling the stories of the internment camps in Canada due to the government's pressure to not talk about what happened to them, leading to the negative and generational consequences of silence as a trauma response. In addition to showing how Japanese Canadians have covered up traumatic events through silence. Obasan also demonstrates how silence has not solved

true effects of war is Obasan by Joy Kogawa. Obasan is a valuable piece of literature; it shows another aspect of World War II and its devastating effects. Japanese-Canadians are silenced, brutalized, and punished due to the paranoia of war. Kogawa’s writing style has such an impact on the individual reading the book. The writing style allows the individual to form a bond with the characters. Kogawa uses seemingly minor details to show the ugly truth of war. Kogawa brings up a detail at the end of

In her novel, Joy Kogawa tells a tale of a Japanese family that was unexpectedly torn apart because of the effects of World War Two and the treatment of Japanese Canadians during that time. She depicts the life of a young women, Naomi, who was separated from her mother as a child. Naomi, now an adult, examines her life and starts to question her past, specifically the interminable question of what happened to her mother. The reality of Naomi’s relationship with her mother is that it was nonexistent

happened during the second world war in 1941. The war brought devastation and separations in the lives of many Japanese Canadians. The book Obasan is an eye-opener to how Japanese Canadians endured through the pearl harbour attack. The book written by Joy Kogawa shares an insight on the treatment of Japanese, and the effects war brought upon a race and a family. The novel is learnt through the first-person point of view, effective use of flashbacks, and a central theme of silence. Obasan is one of many

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

often believe that certain matters are dealt with by adults or should not be discussed altogether. Often it is the adult’s job to keep certain pressures off their children, but if they are not careful, the weight can crush them. In the novel Obasan Joy Kogawa tells the story of a Japanese-Canadian woman, Naomi Nakane. Naomi is forced to live in an internment camp as a child during World War II with her brother Stephen, her Aunt Aya, or obasan, and her Uncle Isamu. Both of her guardians attempt to make

Kogawa, Joy. Obasan. Toronto: Penguin Group, 1983 The novel Obasan by Joy Kogawa center around the memories of Naomi Nakane, a Canadian of Japanese descent growing up during the internment in Canada. The story begins with Naomi, a 36 year old school teacher in the town of Cecil, Alberta. She receives news of her Uncle’s death, which leads her to visit her aunt Obasan. A few days after she arrives, she finds a parcel sent from Aunt Emily, which contains a scrapbook, a folder, an envelope, and

In Obasan, Joy Kogawa, a Japanese-Canadian author, explores the experiences of Japanese-Canadians during World War 2, through the eyes of the main character, Naomi. The book explores how silence, which results from Naomi’s extended family, has became huge part of Naomi’s upbringing.The racism and the loss of family is something some of the Japanese-Canadians experienced, which is shown in this book.This book defines political and cultural connections between the Japanese immigrants of Canada. These

The first impressions of the novel were not positive. “Obasan” by Joy Kogawa was published in 1981 and has a lot of meaning towards racism that occurred in Canada. Kogawa’s novel draws the relationship between Japanese and Canadians during the world War Two in the reader’s mind and describes how hard it was for Japanese people to live in Canada during that period. One of the biggest themes the author uses is “Silence”. To find the theme silence is quite easy as it can be found everywhere in the novel

“Don’t deny the past. Remember everything. If you 're bitter, be bitter. Cry it out! Scream! Denial is gangrene.” In the novel Obasan, Joy Kogawa uses the event of the pearl harbor in order to explain how it takes a toll on a Japanese-Canadian family and uses memories that began to go through the main character Naomi’s mind in order to reveal how Naomi is able to overcome her past memories and secrets that are revealed that shapes Naomi into the person she is now. First, Naomi has to face the memory

The excerpt from Obasan is loaded with images and emotions of poverty and weariness. Kogawa uses strategies as shifts in point of view to convey her theme to her audience. She skillfully uses language, tone, and images. Furthermore, she appropriately throws in Japanese words to highlight the values of Japanese culture. In the first paragraph, Kogawa’s point of view reflects the general experience of all the mistreated Japanese-Canadians during WWII. Her descriptions and omniscient

Rhetorical analysis of How to Live Unhappily Ever After In the article, “How to Live Unhappily Ever After” written in 2012, by Augusten Burroughs for The Wall Street Journal, he explains his concept of living life without the constant pressure to be happy and healed. In other words, Burroughs addresses the true importance of happiness based on his own life experience, and why our view of happiness may be construed due to misleading societal beliefs. Burroughs supports this conjecture by contrasting

The character Sodapop is happy-go-lucky because he is usually happy and merry when they mention him in the book. On page seven when the text declares “Soda's movie-star kind of handsome, the kind that people stop on the street to watch go by.” it suggests he might be happy-go-lucky because people who look good are usually popular, so he would be happy because of his friends. On page eight when the text stated “He can get drunk in a drag race or dancing without ever getting near alcohol.” suggests

On a daily basis, humans are faced with the questions: “What makes a person happy? How does a person achieve happiness? What is the pursuit of happiness?” The pursuit of happiness has become an ever growing industry through things like “ways to happiness” books and life coaches according to Richard Schoch, the factors to achieve happiness are valued at around $18 billion dollars. This amount of money being spent on happiness is a right of people in America; it is the right of Americans to have a

I have so many wonderful reasons to be thankful. Being thankful allows you to experience life to the fullest. I believe it is important to be thankful for my family and friends. Thankfulness allows you to appreciate what you have so you take care of your things. We should appreciate what we are given and use them with care. When you receive something new and valuable you should keep it in good condition and not let it be destroyed. We should all be thankful for everyday objects we use because many

There is a great likelihood that most of the children on this planet have heard this phrase at least once in their lifetimes, “It’s perfect”. Perfection is a concept that has been sought after throughout human history. Regardless of who they are or where they live, human beings have all made some attempt or other to achieve perfection in something, regardless of how small or insignificant that something may be. Parents have urged their children to aim for the top seat, the highest score, the best

One of my favorite my most favorite hobbies would have to be traveling! I absolutely love going to different places around the world. Traveling allows me to admire what I call the beauty of nature. Traveling is my favorite hobby because; it allows me to escape my everyday responsibilities. I love to travel with family and friends but, I’ve also always been the type that would catch a flight just to get away alone if necessary. That’s what I call fun! The excitement of going to another state or country

Optimism, this noun brings light to many challenges that people face daily. Being optimistic people are able to remain happy and open minded; this attitude also helps the people around the person who is optimistic because it brings light to the troubles others may face. However, not many people can obtain optimism in the face of challenges. In the face of challenges, optimism can be very hard to find when challenges occur in our lives. Challenges can makes us very scared, fearful, and sometimes angry;

Not many things can make one happy; like truly happy. The situation is different for everyone though as happiness could be found in anything, based on people’s personal preferences. Some people feel happiness in everything they see while others only find it in certain mediums, actions, or situations. For those who belong in the latter part can still find happiness in many avenues but most of the time, these only give a certain amount of bliss before they get sick of it and move to the next thing

health, deal with adversity, and build strong relationships.” (Harvey) Gratefulness is indeed a tool to improving happiness, William Arthur Ward was once quoting saying, “Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.”