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The Buddha in the attic thesis
Buddha in the attic essay
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The Buddha in the Attic, itself is a title to wonder about. I mean before reading the book, I believed there will be a straightforward reason behind the novel being called, Buddha in the Attic. However, after reading the book, the title is very confusing. My question is simply, ‘why is the title of the novel, Buddha in the Attic?” How is the novel relating to the title of the novel itself?
There are several references to the Buddha itself in the novel, however, I only believe their was one direct reference which could relate to the title. On page, 109 it reads, “Haruko left a tiny laughing brass Buddha up high, in a corner of the attic, where he is still laughing to this day.” This is the only quote I find possibly relating to the title of the novel.
If, thinking about, “The Buddha in the Attic” is simply a Buddha in an attic. Buddha’s are highly regarded in Japan. The novel is set around women from Japan who mostly follow Buddhism, thus, regarding the idol, Buddha. However, in Japan, a Buddha is not put in an attic if it is worshipped. It is probably placed in a place clean and can be spotted easily.
The main setting of the novel is in America. Many
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I mean it is trying to culminate the two backgrounds together depicting the life story of many, many picture brides. The buddha representing Japan while the attic is representing America. Sure, there maybe many houses in Japan having attics, however, they wouldn’t place an idol like Bhudda up there. However, in the novel, the laughing buddha placed by Haruko is probably as a memory. It is probably kept there for others to know that a Japanese family was living here but due to the war issues, for their own welfare, they had to leave. The novel discusses about the issues Americans had with Japanese, vice versa, especially in last section of the novel (after
But for some of the Japanese Americans, it was even harder after they were discharged from the internment camp. The evacuation and the internment had changed the lives of all Japanese Americans. The evacuation and internment affected the Wakatsuki family in three ways: the destruction of Papa’s self-esteem, the separation of the Wakatsuki family, and the change in their social status. The destruction of Papa’s self-esteem is one effect of the evacuation and internment. Before the evacuation and internment, Papa was proud; he had a self-important attitude, yet he was dignified.
Matsumoto studies three generations, Issei, Nisei, and Sansei living in a closely linked ethnic community. She focuses her studies in the Japanese immigration experiences during the time when many Americans were scared with the influx of immigrants from Asia. The book shows a vivid picture of how Cortex Japanese endured violence, discriminations during Anti-Asian legislation and prejudice in 1920s, the Great Depression of 1930s, and the internment of 1940s. It also shows an examination of the adjustment period after the end of World War II and their return to the home place.
Okihiro, Gary Y. Whispered Silences: Japanese Americans and World War II. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1996.
'Even with all the mental anguish and struggle, an elemental instinct bound us to this soil. Here we were born; here we wanted to live. We had tasted of its freedom and learned of its brave hopes for democracy. It was too late, much too late for us to turn back.' (Sone 124). This statement is key to understanding much of the novel, Nisei Daughter, written by Monica Sone. From one perspective, this novel is an autobiographical account of a Japanese American girl and the ways in which she constructed her own self-identity. On the other hand, the novel depicts the distinct differences and tension that formed between the Issei and Nisei generations. Moreover, it can be seen as an attempt to describe the confusion experienced by Japanese Americans torn between two cultures.
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is an eye opening novel by Jamie Ford following the life of Chinese American, Henry Lee, and his Japanese American companion Keiko Okabe and their struggle throughout a period of discrimination, prejudice and paranoia in Settle Washington during World War Two. At first glance, one might assume that the theme of the book is along the lines of something romantic; however, there is one reoccurring theme that is misunderstandings and misinterpretations can lead to harmful situations. This theme is seen quite often through the book; however, three of the most preeminent instances are Henry had believed Keiko had stopped caring for him when instead his father had prevented Henry from receiving his letters, when Henry’s father and the rest of the community had believed all Japanese were inherently their nemeses, and when Henry kept his past a secret to Marty because the thought it would upset Marty.
First of all, I think that our class read this novel for many reasons. My first reason is, to understand what happened and from a different point of view. People obviously sometimes react, think, or understand things differently and I think that it is a good idea to have multiple perspectives when you are learning about something or forming an opinion. Furthermore, I think that this book ties in reasonably well with both our universal concept of power and our theme of justice. This book demonstrates how power is used during the war and how it affects the overall justice. In the situation in the book, the government used its power to intern the Japanese therefore affecting justice. Though, another thing to consider is the reasoning behind the government’s use of power. I believe they interned the Japanese based on the idea of “the well-being of the
The obstacles Ichiro faced in searching for his lost identity reveal a discrepancy of American values, such as freedom and equality, which are deeply rooted in a segregated society. Through the negativity of many of the Japanese-American veterans and the differences among Ichiro’s entire family, he has literally gone from having a duel-heritage to no identity at all. Since he has no desire to be Japanese and feels unworthy to be American, he sees himself as nothing. His hatred of himself not only hinders the possibilities before him, but it also paints a whole new picture of America. Instead of a nation that is united and fights for freedom and equality, America is divided by racism and strips away the freedom of those they find inferior.
Starting in the Post-Civil War period, The Great Wave brings to light a cultural schism and pivot to the, at the time, unknown East. As Commodore Perry’s ships pried open Japan to the outside world, out with it came the cultural interactions that make up most of these stories. These make up a cultural wave, much like the title implies, of which all characters seem to be riding upon in one way or another. In a way it can be viewed as two separate waves. First, the surge of the Japanese characters who newly exposed to modernity, seek to process, learn and move forward with these foreign interactions and experiences. Then there is the American wave, an unguided movement of sorts driven by disillusionment with the industrial west, which finds hope and solace in old Japanese culture. The intersections of these two waves is what makes up the two-hundred some pages of Benfey’s book but ultimately it is the unspoken single wave, on the forward path to modernity, that encompasses them both and is the true backbone of the stories.
John Dower's War Without Mercy describes the ugly racial dimensions of the conflict in the Asian theater of World War II and their consequences on both military and reconstruction policy in the Pacific. "In the United States and Britain," Dower reminds us, "the Japanese were more hated than the Germans before as well as after Pearl Harbor. On this, there was no dispute among contemporary observers. They were perceived as a race apart, even a species apart -- and an overpoweringly monolithic one at that. There was no Japanese counterpart to the 'good German' in the popular consciousness of the Western Allies." (8) Conservative readers, don't fret - Dower isn't making this argument to exonerate the Japanese for their own racism or war crimes -- after all, "atrocious behavior occurred on all sides in the Pacific War." (12-13) Rather, Dower is exploring the propaganda of the US-Japanese conflict to delineate the "patterns of a race war," the cultural mechanisms of "othering," and the portability of racial/racist stereotypes. For "as the war years themselves changed over into into an era of peace between Japan and the Allied powers, the shrill racial rhetoric of the early 1940s revealed itself to be surprisingly adaptable. Idioms that formerly had denoted the unbridgeable gap between oneself and the enemy proved capable of serving the goals of accommodation as well." (13)
The tone right away reduces the Japanese student to a coconut-headed Jap, sly and cunning, and must have cheated his way through life, although the boy is obviously intelligent, being head of the class. Stratton-Porter bars no discriminatory remarks by portraying the American girl, "Sweet Linda" spouting against the Japanese boy who heads the class: "Before I would let a Jap, either a boy or girl, lead in my class, I would give up going to school and go out and see if I could beat him growing lettuce and spinach." (Doc 6) It goes on to protest the foreigners' success, fearing that it would bring in "greater numbers, better equipped for battle of life than we are." (Doc 6) Another public source that also feared a sort of a revolution was the anonymous "Because You're a Jew," generalizing the Jew as a cheat and a swindler, always winning contests, sly speaking and greedy. "The Jew is winning everywhere. By fair means or by foul means he wins.
Japanese immigration created the same apprehension and intolerance in the mind of the Americans as was in the case of Chinese migration to the U.S at the turn of the 19th century. They developed a fear of being overwhelmed by a people having distinct ethnicity, skin color and language that made them “inassimilable.” Hence they wanted the government to restrict Asian migration. Japan’s military victories over Russia and China reinforced this feeling that the Western world was facing what came to be known as “yellow peril”. This was reflected in the media, movies and in literature and journalism.4 Anti-Oriental public opinion gave way to several declarations and laws to restrict Japanese prosperity on American land. Despite the prejudice and ineligibility to obtain citizenship the ...
Their loyalty was questioned, they had to suffer. They were betrayed, they had to stay in camp in fear and anguish. All the suffering that Japanese American had to face shows that America is not a paradise, America can make people feel so bad, though there is hope for good life in people. Racism is the foundation for hate and anger and which would later turn into action. In shirt there was a combination of racism and anger that lead Japanese Americans into the horrors of the internment camps. There are no cities or states like this in United States anymore. It was very heart breaking situation but this should always be included in United States history, so that our next generation will never forget what Japanese Americans had to go through. At this point in history of United States, what we can see is that white people are discriminating, ignoring Japanese people. They are following racism. They are practicing “Defense against Difference”, which is Milton Bennett saying. The people from United States, white people are showing differentiation between them and Japanese, they are showing difference between two culture and they are thinking whites are more superior to Japanese culture. I have learned a lot about intercultural sensitivity this semester. This assignment gave me opportunity to not only evaluate intercultural stages but I got to learn about the other cultures. I have learned that everybody should accept other culture and respect them. If we are aware of the history of Japanese Americans, everyone will be educated and there will be no chances of repeating the same history
Ichiro Yamada is the very epidemy of what it means to be alienated and disconnected in post world war 2 united states. Ichiro Yamada The son of Mr. Yamaha a heavy drinker and Mrs. Yamada who is as Japanese as an American can be shown through the book that he is disconnected with the world around him. Ichiro A No No boy becomes alienated because he answered no to when he was asked whether "Are you willing to serve in the armed forces of the United States on combat duty wherever ordered?”. After rejecting the army, he also in the eyes of many Japanese Americans became a traitor by answering No to "Will you swear unqualified allegiance to the United States of America and faithfully defend the United States from any or all attack by foreign or
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
1-) In what ways is this novel and American classic? What do you believe it says about American values and ideals?