Novels satisfy a human compulsion to peer into the lives of others and to see ourselves reflected in their narratives. Julie Otsuka’s The Buddha in the Attic uses a nontraditional narrative approach to explore the experience of the Japanese “picture brides” and their lives in America. Through an unusual narrative structure and point of view, the novel emphasizes the unique experience of each Japanese woman featured (however briefly) in the narrative while suggesting an underlying universality in their lives.
The novel’s structure balances the individuality and anonymity of the characters. Otsuka populates the story with women from different backgrounds, with different faces, different histories, different expectations, different lives: “Some
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While a first-person narrator creates a certain intimacy with the reader, as if he were confiding in a friend, the effect of telling the story that “we” experience includes the reader over and over in the narrative itself: “We discussed the latest rumors. I hear they’re putting us into work camps to grow food for the troops, We turned on the radio and listened to the bulletins from the front” (89). Adding to the blurred lines between narrator, character, and reader, Otsuka changes perspective in her final chapter, “A Disappearance.” Until this point, the “we” telling the story speaks from the perspective of the picture brides. However, in the last chapter the Japanese homes stand empty, and the white residents continue the narrative as the new “we.” Moving the narrative perspective from one group to another creates a sense of unity between the two groups while emphasizing the gulf between them, producing an oddly dislocating and terribly sad experience for the reader. One scene perfectly captures this effect as the narrator points out,“Harada Grocery is closed, and in its front window hangs a hand-written sign none of us can remember having seen there before -- God be with you until we meet again, it reads. And of course, we cannot help but wonder: Who put up the sign? Was it one of them? Or one of us?” (115). The questions
A heroine's journey usually involves a female protagonist, however, the relationship with this story structure goes much deeper in this book.
The thirteenth chapter of Buddha Boy starts off with Justin, Megan, and Jakob are sitting together at The Pride of Rucher Assembly. The usual students who receive awards are announced and McManus receives the awards, Outstanding Student Athlete and Student Leadership, which Justin is annoyed by. But surprisingly Jinsen receives an award for his banner and embodying the best of the student body. When it is time to leave school, Meg lost her keys so Justin and Meg head backstage to find them. But when entering the auditorium, they see the remains of Jinsen’s banner, which is destroyed. Justin notices Jinsen is looking at the banner, his eyes slits and angry, wanting revenge, but Justin tells Jinsen don’t and grabs the remains of the poster.
The Buddha was and is an important figure in several different cultures, and his influence has spread over large areas. Across these different cultures, many forms of art portrayed him in different ways. In Japan, one of the Buddha’s titles stood out as the “Amida Buddha.” The statue that this paper will be detailing portrays “Amida, the Buddha of Infinite Light” (“Amida”). The statue is located in the Dayton Art Institute’s Japanese Art Gallery 105 with the acquisition number 1935.1. Created in the thirteenth century during the Kamakura period, this statue stands out in the Dayton Art Institute as a prominent Buddha figure. It is made of wood with lacquer and gilt, and it was built to be approximately the size of a normal person.
The Buddha in the Attic is written to represent the unheard experiences of many different women that married their husband through a picture. They were known during the early 1920s as the pictures brides ranging in different ages, but naive to the world outside of America. Though the picture bride system was basically the same as their fathers selling their sister to the geisha house, these women viewed being bought to be a wife by a Japanese male in America as an opportunity for freedom and hope for a better life (Otsuka, 2011, p.5) For some of these women, the choice to marry the man in the picture wasn’t an option and chose to die while on the boat instead of marry a stranger, while others accepted their fates with grace. The book continues
The novel complicates its own understanding of women
“Indeed, Kogawa has multiple struggles as a Canadian, a woman, and a minority, and although some believe that language is inadequate to express the truth of the past, her perspective helps to unveil and include minority positions in order to rectify the discrimination that conceals them,” (Shoenut 478). Through Naomi’s past, Kogawa allows readers to explore the flaws of human nature. Shoenut explains how Naomi was in all of the categories of being a minority, by stating that she is a women, and of Japanese descent. Even though Naomi struggled a lot in her life, she was able to unveil the hidden truths of
Much about Kogawa's novel makes it difficult not only to read but also to classify or categorize. First, Obasan blurs the line between nonfiction and fiction. Kogawa draws from actual letters and newspaper accounts, autobiographical details, and historical facts throughout the novel, but she artistically incorporates this material into a clearly fictional work. In addition, Kogawa's narrative operates on multiple levels, from the individual and familial to the communal, national, political, and spiritual. Stylistically, the novel moves easily between the language of documentary reportage and a richly metaphorical language, and between straightforward narrative and stream-ofconsciousness exposition. This astonishing variety in Kogawa's novel can, at times, become bewildering and unsettling to the reader. But as many readers and critics have noted, Kogawa's style and method in Obasan also constitute the novel's unique strength. Kogawa writes in such a way that ambiguity, uncertainty, irony, and paradox do not weaken her story but instead paradoxically become the keys to understanding it.
Saikaku, Ihara. Life of a Sensuous Woman. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. 3rd Ed. Volume D. Ed. Martin Puchner. New York: Norton, 2013. 591-611. Print.
When the tale of Melibee ended, the Host said that he'd give up a barrel of ale to have his wife hear the tale of Prudence and her patience, for she is an ill-tempered woman. The Host asks the narrator his name, and attempts to guess his profession perhaps a sexton or other such officer, or a wily governor. The Monk will tell the next tale, a series of tragedies.
Maechi Wabi’s journey illustrates the relationship of vipassana meditation because of the suffering that she goes through to become a nun. Through her journey to become a nun, she learns that to become a nun in Bangkok you need to have money. Without much of money, she goes through difficulties to difficulties to find a place where she can stay, practices meditation and learn Buddhism. Vipassana meditation means “to see clearly” (43 Brown). While Maechi Wabi practices vipassana meditation, she learns a lot about the nun and her inner self. Wabi starts to understand the idea of rebirth and suffering (the Buddhist truth) as she continues practicing meditation. The more she meditates, the more she gained an understanding of suffering, karmic and notices that everyone, including herself, is suffering because of the karmic that they have had builds in their past
In the opening of both the play and the novel we are introduced to the two main female characters which we see throughout both texts. The authors’ styles of writing effectively compare and contrast with one another, which enables the reader to see a distinct difference in characters, showing the constrictions that society has placed upon them.
Many will agree that the relocation and evacuation of Japanese Canadian during World War II did not have just cause. But perhaps, with past perspective it may have been a prudent action, as need of many always outweighs the need of few. Nevertheless, What Naomi had to endure was not an easy ordeal. Racial discrimination occurs even today, despite the current paradigm that believes racism should be eradicated. Obasan and Itsuka captures the essence of one¡¯s pain enduring such discrimination, with an innocent child¡¯s perspective and mature adult who had already been victimized. By focusing on protagonist Naomi¡¯s experiences during the relocation, both novels show that with her strong beliefs she was able to overcome the hardship and realize her past has constructed her future. Naomi never lost her faith in her family, friends, and in her country. Thus, strong beliefs and having faith can be a powerful weapon against hopeless odds and immense hardships.
Analysis of Buddhism Plain and Simple by Steve Hagen The book Buddhism Plain and Simple, by Steve Hagen, caught my attention and became more interesting to me than I thought. I have always heard of the religion Buddhism, but I never knew what it was all about. I never thought that Buddhism was as huge as it is. I knew that it existed in other countries, but I never knew what exact countries. Many of the views in this book surprised me and the book taught me a lot about morals and better ways to live your life.
In the story “Two Kinds”, the author, Amy Tan, intends to make reader think of the meaning behind the story. She doesn’t speak out as an analyzer to illustrate what is the real problem between her and her mother. Instead, she uses her own point of view as a narrator to state what she has experienced and what she feels in her mind all along the story. She has not judged what is right or wrong based on her opinion. Instead of giving instruction of how to solve a family issue, the author chooses to write a narrative diary containing her true feeling toward events during her childhood, which offers reader not only a clear account, but insight on how the narrator feels frustrated due to failing her mother’s expectations which leads to a large conflict between the narrator and her mother.
Each story focuses on a different female character and explores her thoughts and her reactions to her social environment. Throughout the collection of stories there are a number of underlying themes that reveal Atwood's insight and understanding of why men and women are different. These themes include the questionable definitions of femininity proposed in society, the idea of escapism through fantasy and the conflict that exists between men and women.