"Obasan" is an autobiographical novel, a story about the internment of
Japanese Canadians during World War II. The book is narrated by Naomi Nakane,
a second generation Japanese Canadian who was six years old at the time of the
internment. The silence, the lost of family, and the racism all intertwine with the
At first, Naomi was borned in a comfortable Vancouver home. She was
protected by family warmth and filled with music. Because of the war, Naomi's
mother went to Japan for a visit and were trapped there by the outbreak. Naomi's
family in Canada was scattered by governmental fiat. Her father, uncle and her
grandparents were vanished from her life. Naomi grew up with her obasan and
uncle. Because she was separated from her parents at an earlier age, she was
sexual abuse. Naomi need her parents' protection. Love is something that every
Naomi's innocence was ruined and violated into silence by the internment
and the lost of family. In the novel, there were some metaphors related to young
animals and things. In chapter 11, Naomi's parents bought a dozen yellow
chicks. The chicken referred to Naomi's feeling of helpless when the chicks were
attacked by the mother hen. On her way to school, a kitten thrown in a cesspool,
and she saw Japanese schoolboys tortured a chickren were images of aimless.
These metaphors described Naomi's silent pain: the trust, the fascination, the
helpless, and the wearisome. All of these things also related to a child at that time.
The war had a horrible effect on the Japanese Canadian. People were
denying their heritage. "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."
(P.183). Naomi was Japanese, her friends couldn't play with her because of her race.
Their parents separated them from her. Naomi was faced with the c
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