Obasan the nature of power
Obasan the nature of powerObasan: The Nature of Power
Joy Kogawa’s obasan sheds light on the complicated nature of power. Three scenes in chapter 11 represent the power that the Canadian Government exerted over the Japanese Canadians during World War II. The first of these scenes involves the yellow chicks and the white hen; the second is Naomi’s dream of the torture and mutilation of three Japanese women; and the final scene is naomi’s personal description of the abuse she endured at the hands of Mr. Gower. All three scenes reveal the nature of power and the suffering of the victims of this power. In addition, these three scenes are symbolic of the suffering that Japanese Canadians endured at the hands of the Canadian Government. Following the Japanese Canadian Internment in Canada, Japanese Canadians fought for restitution from the Government for the personal hardships and financial losses endured during the war. During the 1980’s the Japanese Canadian Redress Agreement was signed and the Government of Canada issued a formal apology to Japanese Canadians and monetary restitution of $21,000 was paid to each survivor.
Chapter 11 begins with Naomi describing the white hen and the yellow chicks beside the garage. At this point, Naomi places the small yellow chicks in the cage with the large white hen who jabs her “sharp beak…down on the chick[s]”. (62) Eventually some of the yellow chicks are left dead, some wounded and some unscathed. I feel that this scene is symbolic of the greater abuse that the Japanese Canadians suffered at the hands of the Canadian Government. This scene with the yellow chicks speaks of the abuse that is suffered at the hands of one of you own. The white hen in the scene represents the position of power; the position of the Canadian Government, while the yellow chicks are the victims of this power. Naomi and the Japanese are the yellow chicks, “the Yellow Peril” (165) and “for Naomi there will be no transformation from yellow chick to white hen.” (Turner 93)
Many Japanese Canadians who were interned during World War II were second and third generation Canadians. Almost all of the 21,000 Japanese interned during the war were Canadian citizens; they were born here, worked here, raised families here, yet the Canadian Government betrayed them and treated them as the enemy. The following quote from Ken Adachi clearly illustrates that being Canadian and being a Canadian citizen was not enough to prevent internment during the Second World War:
Born in Canada, brought up on big-band jazz, Fred Astaire and the novels
of Rider Haggard, I had perceived myself to be as Canadian as the
beaver. I hated ride. I had committed no crime. I was never charged, tried or convicted of anything. Yet I was fingerprinted and interned. (5)
Anti-Asian sentiments escalated in Canada during the war to the point where in a 1944 nomination speech MP Ian Alistair Mackenzie proclaimed: “Let our slogan be for British Columbia: No Japs from the Rockies to the Seas”. This type of sentiment, specifically considering the vast Canadian support for the abuse, was an outright betrayal of Canadians by the Canadian Government and the rest of Canada. I believe Kogawa uses the white hen to symbolize Canada the mother of Japanese Canadians; a mother who betrayed, abused and abandoned her children.
This first scene is also symbolic of the guilt that many of the Japanese Canadians felt during and following the Internment. I think Naomi herself as a child feels guilty about placing the yellow chicks with the white hen, but I think this is symbolic of the guilt she feels later on in life concerning the events of the Internment. A Canadian Race Relations Federation report explains that many Japanese Canadians opted for “repatriation out of shame, or a misguided loyalty to Canada”. This shame may be the reason why it took Japanese Canadians two decades to truly address the idea of restitution. Naomi herself expresses guilt at the separation of her family and the loss of her mother. The guilt that Naomi feels as a child is understandable; the concepts of racism and government propaganda go beyond the spectrum of a child’s understanding. But I feel Naomi as an adult continues to blame herself for what happened during the Internment. I believe this is part of Naomi’s character. Naomi is constructed as a very meek, reserved women and I feel that she harbours feelings of guilt because of her Japanese ancestry. Naomi’s shame and guilt is not unique; it runs through the veins of Japanese Canadians.
The second scene is Naomi’s description of her recurring dream. In the dream, three oriental women lie on a road being guarded by soldiers. On of the women uses “the only weapon she [has]-her desirability” (66) in an attempt to seduce the soldier. In the end, the women’s limbs are severed from their bodies. I believe this scene is symbolic of the lack of power the Japanese Canadians had during the internment.