Feminism in Obasan

Taken from Goodreads.com

Obasan; a novel about the power of words and the depth of silence. This novel, an autobiographical one written by Canadian author Joy Kogawa, details the trauma faced by a Japanese-Canadian family, the Katos and Nakanes, during World War II. From a feminist perspective, the novel also focuses on how oftentimes it is the matriarch in a family that holds it together, as well as on the concept of the "strength of a woman" when faced with extreme hardship.

The novel begins with the protagonist and narrator, Naomi Nakane, detailing her seemingly mundane life as a school teacher in British Columbia. She is 36 years old, unmarried and somehow unsatisfied with her life. She is the lens through which we are told the story her family's survival. Naomi, or Nomi as her family calls her, recalls how her life was riddled with trauma at the hands of the Canadian government, and other Canadians who were too close to home.

Naomi, at age 4, is raped by her neighbour, Old Man Gower. Naomi suggests that Gower takes advantage of her infantile and feminine meekness in the lines: "He begins to undress me. I do not resist. One does not resist adults." (Kogawa 61). On top of that, "it is not an isolated event" (59). Gower is described as powerful, commanding, a predator in his natural state. Naomi is contrasted as small, defenseless and powerless because not only is she a child, "she does not know what it is to struggle" (59).

She suffered in silence for her entire life. Is this strength? It could be. It could also be seen as weakness. However for me, it takes strength for any woman to go on to lead a "normal" life after enduring something so traumatic by withdrawing within herself and finding an inner motivation to keep going.

Naomi's aunt Emily also represents strength in the text, as Emily Kato, also unmarried, is the voice of resistance against the horrors of the work camps, torture, murder and decimation of the Japanese-Canadians in Canada. While Naomi's sufferings went unknown, Emily faced her own suffering along with other members of the Japanese-Canadian community, and turned to writing letters and journals as a means of fighting back.

In detailing what the Canadian government did, such as forcibly taking property from Japanese-Canadians, removing them from their homes, separating families in inhumane conditions, and forcing men to work under concentration-camp conditions, Emily continued to be a voice for the Nisei and the Isei, the second and third-generations children of immigrants who made their home in Japan decades before the war. While Naomi and Obasan used silence and retreat as a means of strengthening themselves, Emily used her words. This lead to Naomi learning the truth about her past. It also lead to a resistance by other women. 

Overall, the novel provides an in-depth look at things many other writers have never done before, especially through the lens of a woman. The message is clear: women will not always be silenced.