Stephen Nakane Character Analysis in Obasan

Stephen is Naomi’s older brother. Since he is three years older than Naomi, he experiences more direct racism at school before the war begins, which leads him to resent his own Japanese heritage. This shame and anger worsen as Stephen grows up and internalizes the racism that has led to his and his family’s suffering. He spurns his grandparents’ Buddhist religion, refuses to eat Japanese food, and ignores Obasan because she values Japanese traditions and speaks in a mix of English and Japanese. He excels academically and is a gifted musician, and as an adult he establishes a successful music career, but this success comes at the cost of his heritage. Stephen is so determined to be accepted into white society that he sacrifices all reminders of his Japanese identity, including his connection to his family. Stephen demonstrates the importance of solidarity, community, and self-acceptance, because when he rejects those values, he is left isolated and uncomfortable with his own identity.

Stephen Nakane Quotes in Obasan

The Obasan quotes below are all either spoken by Stephen Nakane or refer to Stephen Nakane. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Race, Identity, and Citizenship Theme Icon

The Yellow Peril is a Somerville Game, Made in Canada.

It was given to Stephen at Christmas. On the red-and-blue box cover is a picture of soldiers with bayonets and fists raised high looking out over a sea full of burning ships and a sky full of planes. A game about war. Over a map of Japan are the words:

The game that shows how
a few brave defenders
can withstand a very
great number of enemies.

There are fifty small yellow pawns inside and three big blue checker kings. To be yellow in the Yellow Peril game is to be weak and small. […] I am not yellow. I will not cry however much this nurse yanks my hair.

Related Characters: Naomi Nakane (speaker), Stephen Nakane

Page Number and Citation: 180-181

Explanation and Analysis:

The game Yellow Peril is an example of the casually racist propaganda that children are subjected to at a young age. The game itself seems unassuming, but the imagery and language on the box is blatantly racist and contextualizes the game as the same. The map of Japan equates the “great number of enemies” from the game description with the Japanese, who are represented in the game as a large army of “small yellow pawns.” The depiction of the Japanese figures as yellow is in reference to racist imagery associated with Asian people, and the name “Yellow Peril” refers to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferend

“Why can’t we go home, Stephen?”

“Because. That’s why,” Stephen says crossly, and tells me no more. His eyes are like Father’s, searching.

The orders, given to Uncle and Father in 1945, reach me via Aunt Emily's package in 1972, twenty-seven years later.

The delivery service is slow these days. Understanding is even slower. I still do not see the Canadian face of the author of those words.

Related Characters: Naomi Nakane (speaker), Stephen Nakane (speaker), Father (Tadashi/Mark Nakane), Aunt Emily Kato

Related Symbols: Aunt Emily’s Box of Documents

Page Number and Citation: 206

Explanation and Analysis:

After the Nakanes have finally settled in at Slocan, they are once again uprooted, and Naomi looks to her older brother for guidance. As much as Stephen tries to distance himself from his family, he emulates his elders in his adherence to silence. He refuses to respond to Naomi’s confusion, shutting down her question and telling her “no more.” Naomi’s narration contextualizes this behavior within the family’s tradition of concealing painful information by comparing Stephen to Father. Like Father, Stephen doesn’t fully understand the truth himself, but he will not include Naomi in his “searching” for it. This constant secrecy Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectet

Is it so bad?

Yes.

Do I really mind?

Yes, I mind. I mind everything. Even the flies. […] It’s the chicken coop “house” we live in that I mind. […] It’s the bedbugs and my having to sleep on the table to escape the nightly attack, and the welts all over our bodies. […] Or it’s standing in the beet field under the maddening sun […].

[…] I mind the harvesttime and the hands and the wrists bound in rags to keep the wrists from breaking open. […] I cannot tell about this time, Aunt Emily. The body will not tell.

Related Characters: Naomi Nakane (speaker), Stephen Nakane, Uncle (Isamu “Sam” Nakane), Aunt Emily Kato, Obasan (Ayako Nakane)

Page Number and Citation: 233-235

Explanation and Analysis:

Recalling her family’s experience on the beet farm brings Naomi’s anger to a boiling point. She has spent years repressing the trauma of the period of internment, but reliving the abominable conditions of life on the beet farm prompts an explosion of feeling that translates to several pages in which Naomi describes how miserable she was on the farm. However, she concludes by expressing that she “cannot tell about this time.” Even her extensive descriptions do not do justice to the pain she felt during those years because words can’t articulate what “the body will not tell.” This tension between Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Co

I know Obasan is praying. I’ve seen her before––the time Stephen leapt out of bed in the middle of the night yelling, “I’ve got to get out of here,” and ran down the road away from the farm in the dark. Obasan sat at the table and prayed till he returned. He said when he came back he’d had a nightmare. Something about a metallic insect the size of a tractor, webbing a grid of iron bars over him. (Later, he told me he had the same nightmare again, but escaped the web by turning the bars into a xylophone.)

Related Characters: Naomi Nakane (speaker), Stephen Nakane, Obasan (Ayako Nakane)

Page Number and Citation: 264

Explanation and Analysis:

During the period of internment, Stephen understands more of what is going on than Naomi does because he is older. However, he is still a child, and the family’s suffering affects him as much as it does Naomi. The novel makes clear that Stephen’s attempts to deny his trauma by distancing himself from his Japanese identity hurt the people around him, but the story also demonstrates why Stephen makes the choices he does. This dream that Stephen has provides a peek into his psyche and highlights his differences from Naomi. Both he and Naomi have dreams that feature a large Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possi

Stephen Nakane Character Timeline in Obasan

The timeline below shows where the character Stephen Nakane appears in Obasan. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...that bread was Uncle’s last act, and she remembers when she and her older brother Stephen helped Uncle bake his first loaf. She and Stephen used to tease Uncle about how... (full context)

...language of her grief.” She doesn’t know how to help Obasan, and she knows that Stephen travels too often to be of help. Obasan keeps repeating “Everything old,” referring to both... (full context)

...World War II. Grandma Nakane features in a family photograph taken after the birth of Stephen, the first grandchild in both the Kato and Nakane families. In the photograph, Naomi’s mother... (full context)

...look after the family’s property. Naomi thinks of the air raid drills that her brother Stephen has told her he does at school, and of the racist violence he faces from... (full context)

That December, the Nakane and Kato families celebrate Christmas together. The relatives watch Stephen and Naomi perform in a Christmas pageant, and afterwards they shower the children with gifts.... (full context)

...She writes that Naomi is confused and disoriented at the growing tension around her, while Stephen understands and is starting to internalize the racial prejudice he is exposed to. Emily muses... (full context)

...deteriorating trust among Japanese Canadians. The government terms the Nisei “enemy aliens.” Meanwhile, Grandpa Kato, Stephen, and Father are all in poor health. (full context)

Emily continues to delay the internment of herself, Naomi, and Stephen while she searches for a place to live outside the “protected area.” Moving is complicated,... (full context)

In 1942, Naomi, Stephen, and Obasan take the train to Slocan, joining other Japanese Canadians who have been rendered... (full context)

Stephen rejects Obasan’s attempt to give him a rice ball, saying he doesn’t want “that kind... (full context)

Naomi goes outside with Stephen, who walks with crutches. They see a swarm of beautiful golden butterflies, and Stephen begins... (full context)

...day when she is out, Nomura-obasan calls for her bedpan, and Naomi cannot find it. Stephen ignores Naomi’s request for help, so she alone brings Nomura-obasan to the outhouse and waits... (full context)

...dies while the family is in Slocan. She and Grandpa Nakane visited Naomi, Obasan, and Stephen a few weeks earlier, but they quickly left for a hospital some distance away. Naomi... (full context)

...the family learns both that Uncle will be joining them and that the cast on Stephen’s leg can be removed. Obasan happily focuses on these pieces of good news. Uncle’s arrival... (full context)

Through the winter and early spring of 1943, Naomi and Stephen have no school to attend. Some children attend classes taught in Japanese, but Obasan and... (full context)

...that Death often appears unexpectedly. She flashes back to the previous week, when she and Stephen encounter a group of boys torturing a chicken, relishing in its suffering. Finally, the boys... (full context)

...women and children find rest and conversation. In 1945, Germany surrenders, but Naomi doesn’t share Stephen’s interest in the war. (full context)

...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... (full context)

...1945, Naomi wakes with the sense that something significant is taking place. The previous day, Stephen ran home shouting that the war was over and “we won”; he was so excited... (full context)

...Father in the cot. Naomi throws herself into her father’s arms and finally feels safe. Stephen wakes up and joins the hug. Father begins to play “The White Cliffs of Dover”... (full context)

...the Nakanes while they pack, and Nakayama-sensei leads the group in prayer. During the prayers, Stephen accidentally breaks one of Mother’s records. The Nakanes and their guests take communion from Nakayama-sensei,... (full context)

Aunt Emily will be arriving soon with Stephen, and Nakayama-sensei has also promised to visit. Naomi flashes back to a conversation she had... (full context)

The story moves back to 1945 as Naomi, Obasan, Uncle, and Stephen arrive in the city of Lethbridge, Alberta. Lethbridge is colorless, and the air is so... (full context)

...the last time in 1949, and the family sinks into a numb depression. At school, Stephen and Naomi’s white classmates pick on them. They and the other Japanese students shorten and... (full context)

...sit by a nearby swamp. One day, she finds a frog with a broken leg. Stephen comes to bring Naomi home because Nakayama-sensei has come to visit, and Naomi brings the... (full context)

...property and into their own house. At the same time, Naomi begins high school, while Stephen is in his final year, and is composing a cantata with his music teacher. The... (full context)

...them when he visited Japan after the war, but he found no trace of them. Stephen believes that they must be dead, since they would write to the family otherwise. Naomi... (full context)

In 1952, Stephen leaves home to attend the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. He visits the family... (full context)

...while Mrs. Barker takes in the small house with obvious discomfort. Mr. Barker asks about Stephen; people in Granton always ask about Stephen’s musical career, but Naomi hasn’t seen her brother... (full context)

...Barker depart, Obasan and Naomi doze off in the living room waiting for Emily and Stephen. Naomi dreams that she and her family are in a courtyard full of soldiers who... (full context)

Nakayama-sensei, Aunt Emily, and Stephen arrive. Stephen doesn’t respond to Obasan’s attempts to start a conversation with him, and Naomi... (full context)

Aunt Emily shows a stack of letters to Nakayama-sensei and explains that Naomi and Stephen don’t know about them. Nakayama-sensei points out that Naomi and Stephen are no longer children,... (full context)

...finishes reading the letter. He is deeply rattled, but he tries to bring comfort to Stephen and Naomi by preaching love and forgiveness. Naomi is not interested in forgiveness. She thinks... (full context)

Stephen Nakane Character Analysis

Stephen Nakane Quotes in Obasan

Chapter 22 Quotes

Chapter 25 Quotes

Chapter 29 Quotes

Chapter 33 Quotes

Stephen Nakane Character Timeline in Obasan