The idea or theme in the book I read in my book club, The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka, is about immigrating to America and trying to fit into American society. The book follows these groups of Japanese girls and women who traveled from different parts of Japan to be with their husbands, who they never met, to live better lives, only to find out the husbands were lying about who they were.
There was a lot of focus on throwing away culture and fitting in to American society. I think the book did this to humanize the characters and give details on the culture that was lost and the characters contribute to this idea/theme by reminiscing of their past when they were with their families. They also go over rules they live by which were taught by their mothers. They left to go to America for a better life so they can live more comfortably but end up working on farms and living in poor environments. Then, they talk about not speaking Japanese anymore in order to fit, watching their children grow up to reject their heritage, and destroying their cultural items so they aren't suspected as spies. The book says a lot about the theme of the struggles of moving to America and how there are always hidden costs when it comes to deals and exchanges. There is one example of this, (33) "...we learned to think twice before saying yes and looking into a man's eyes, because in America you got nothing for free." This connects to the how the women and girls went to America thinking they can live in luxury just by marrying but didn't know that the husbands were old and cruel men who lived poorly in farms and they would have to live with loneliness, overwork, illness, and discrimination. I think this theme/idea is important to focus on because I think it's a relevant topic today and is very important to many people in America. Immigration happens all the time with different groups of people and a lot of people, especially immigrant families, have experiences with the effects it has when it comes to loosing their culture and fitting in to American society. I think books about this theme gives the opportunity to have discussions on this topic and the struggles that different groups go through which can lead to better understanding among people of different backgrounds.
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So far, the book's setting mainly took place on the boat that the women and girls are on to get to America to be with their husbands, who they have never met before. The steerage is described as dark and filthy with narrow beds and damp air. They ate the same meals every day laid in bed seasick at night. They also describe their previous lives. They remember the rules they leaned to live by from their mothers to be "good wives." and their dreams of the new life they will live in America.
My thoughts on the story are that it is very dark and depressing. There is a lot of longing for home and just miserable experiences from being on the ship. I really like the author style of writing and I like the little snippets of the girls personal memories and thoughts that are placed all throughout the text. I predict that when the women and girls arrive to America, they won't have the happy life that they were hoping for, considering the foreshadowing the author put into the book and the time period this story takes place. I think setting and theme will be very important because the change in setting is a very important part of the story with it being about immigrating from Japan to America. I think a similar kind of story could of happened somewhere else because a lot of different groups immigrate to America for a lot of different reasons. It could also take place in different time periods like 100 years ago, 50 years ago, or today which gives even more choice and opportunity for different variations of similar stories. |
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November 2018
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