Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Obasan, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Race, Identity, and Citizenship
History and Memory
Speech vs. Silence
Selflessness and Decorum
Summary
Analysis
Naomi comes home from the hospital to find that Nomura-obasan’s health has improved and she has moved out of the hut. The story moves forward in time. Over the next three years, the Nakanes’ fortune improves with that of Slocan’s, as the community settles in and establishes a thriving town. Obasan and Naomi frequently visit the public bathhouses, where women and children find rest and conversation. In 1945, Germany surrenders, but Naomi doesn’t share Stephen’s interest in the war.
Naomi’s life continues to move forward, emphasizing that the mundanities of life don’t grind to a halt in the presence of significant historical moments. The Japanese Canadians in Slocan mourn the loss of their homes and their loved ones, but they also continue to find hope and community. In short, they continue to live. This is contrasted with the dramatic end to the war in Europe, which is the part of the World War II experience that the traditional study of history prioritizes.
Themes
Around the same time, Naomi and Obasan go to the bathhouse. Nomura-obasan chats with them, but the other women and girls avoid the Nakanes. On their way home, Naomi sees one of her classmates who had avoided her in the bathhouse, and the girl tells Naomi that her mother has forbidden her to associate with the Nakanes because they have tuberculosis. This, the girl says, is why Stephen has a limp and why Naomi and her father have been in the hospital. She adds that the disease comes from sleeping on the floor. Naomi runs home and asks what tuberculosis is. Stephen ignores her, while Uncle replies simply that some people unfairly view illness as shameful.
Despite the blossoming community in Slocan, the hardship of living in the ghost town take generates tension among the town residents. All the people in Slocan have faced racism, but some townspeople seek to distinguish themselves from others along lines of class and health. This social dynamic highlights the way in which oppression is perpetuated on smaller scales within oppressed groups.
Themes
