Obasan: Revelations in a Paradoxical Scheme

Abstract

Suppose you have a stem of Butterfly Orchid With a cluster of white blossoms in full bloom, How would you arrange it? Would you keep it intact and display a mossive beauty or leave only one or two blossoms to present a modest beauty? Japanese flower arrangement for the tea ceremony chooses the latter, thus the paradoxical idea of enhancing beauty by sacrificing beauty, which is central to the Japanese aesthetic as expressed in many arts and rituals besides teaism and flower arrangement. Obasan, a novel written by second-generation Japanese-Canadian Joy Kogawa, utilizes the same subtle art of through subtraction. book conceals ail enormous depth beneath the surface of a calm, modest, natural narrative. of the novel's most symbolic scenes, which illuminates the heart of this art, is when Aya brings a bundle of food in a furoshiki, or cloth wrapper, to express her thanks to the men who came to help with the cremation of Grandnma Nakane. Obasan puts her gift of food discreetly behind the second wood pile, where it will be seen after we leave(131). Instead of an overt or direct expression of thanks, hides her gratitude in cloth. As a result of this silent, self-effacing, humble act, her thoughtfulness or gracefulness is all the more defected and esteemed by the recipients. In Western cultures which favor openness or directness in speech and behavior, this subtle act of concealing or hinting at one's feelings would be regarded as a sign of evasiveness, indifference, or in an extreme case, rejection or abandonment, more often than not inviting misunderstanding or mistrust. However, in Japanese culture does not necessarily have a negative import; it is rather regarded as a positive force to bring about revelations, allowing one to perceive the very essence of a matter hidden behind silence. Obasan, born out of the Japanese-Canadian bilingual milieu, deals with the polemics of the language of silence vis-a-vis the language of speech. of the major tasks that the protagonist of the novel faces is the mastery of both languages in pursuit of the meaning of her suffering - her separation from Mother, her loss of home and country, and her humiliation and alienation by the enforced internment during and after World War II. In the novel, the two modes of language are represented by her two aunts: Aya embodying silence and Aunt Emily speech. Naomi says of their difference: One lives in sound, the other in stone. Obasan's language remains deeply underground but Aunt Emily, BA, MA, is a word warrior(32). major tone of the book, however, is held by the language of silence, for the writer creates in the novel a contrivance to control Emily's provocative voice by confining it in the package which is to be concealed for nearly twenty years in Aya Obasan's attic. It is planned that Emily's voice spills out of its confinement bit by bit in response to the protigonist's progress in her narration. novel consists of thirty-nine chapters, of which only one-thirteenth is alloted to Emily's narration, which appears in chapters seven, fourteen, and twenty-seven. Her voice provides a historical background to Naomi's personal memories about the three different places where she has been brought up - Vancouver, Slocan, and Granton. Emily's narration discloses the buried historical and political facts of the Japanese-Canadians's internment and her indictment against the covered-up crimes and euphemised language of the official letters and documents released by the government. Her language is articulate, straightforward, persistent, and sometimes furious. On the other hand, Naomi's narration is ambiguous, low-keyed, compromising, and acquiescent. In the face of Aunt Emily's assault by tongue Naomi tells herself, The very last thing in the world I was interested in talking about was our experiences during and after World War II(33); Crimes of history,.. …