"Keep your eyes down. When you are in the city, do not look into anyone's face. That
             way they may not see you. That way you offend less."
             The novel, Obasan tells the story of a Japanese family's efforts to survive the
             trauma of separation from their homes and eachother. The novel was written in 1981 by
             Joy Kogawa and tells the details of how the Japanese were discriminated against during
             World War 2. The novel commences in the seventies with Naomi Nah Nakane a teacher in
             Northern Alberta finding out that her beloved uncle has died. When Naomi returns home
             to console her Aunt Obasan, she is distraught to see her aunt is only a shell of the strong
             woman who raised her. She begins to relive the difficulties of her life after she discovers a
             package left by her Aunt Emily. The package is filled with letters, documents, articles,
             She recounts the struggle against the government and themselves while trying to
             stay in Vancouver. Naomi is very small at the time of the war and did not really fully
             understand what was happening to her race. The novel recounts the struggle of Naomi's
             Aunt Emily to ensure that her family would be together in whatever place they were sent
             to. Aunt Emily wanted to head east to Toronto, but was unable to get the documentation
             for the entire family which included her sister's children, who she was taking care of. The
             novel discuses the camps that the Japanese families were sent to in Hastings Park during
             the war. The detained families were forced to live in horrendous conditions, sharing living
             quarters with strangers, without adequate food and supply, and the pungent smell of
             Naomi during this time was being sexually molested by her next door neighbor and
             did not tell anybody about this, this possibly relates to the novels theme of silence. Naomi
             seems resentful during the novel, as she comes across as a quiet little g
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