Obasan
...a protective silence; the silence that will not speak is the repression of memories in the past. Naomi suffers a loss that she cannot fill, the loss of her mother. When she was young her mother was forced to leave because of internment, as a result of the attack on Pearl Harbor, and WWII. Anyone with Japanese ancestry, were forced into exile. (Rico and Mano) Naomi cannot fill the void left by her mother with Obasan, because she is silent. Her silence is a result of her Japanese culture, which protects her heritage. An event in Naomi’s life that renders her “silent” is the abuse she receives from her neighbor, Mr. Gower. “But outside, even in the backyard, there is an infinitely unpredictable, unknown, and often dangerous world. Speech hides within me, watchful and afraid.”(Kogawa) Naomi keeps this from her mother, and remains silent. Years later she is assaulted again in a cave in Slocan, again she keeps it silent. Naomi represses these bad memories until the death of Uncle Isamu when everything resurfaces in dreams or vivid memories. It was Naomi’s choice not to speak of the tragedy she has experienced. (Conover) The death of Uncle Isamu brings Naomi back to Granton. There she is faced with all the silence that she has endured throughout her life. Memories that have been repressed are now free. The silence of Obasan is now being broken when she gives Naomi Aunt Emily’s...