Nicholas J Krueger
English Comp 104
Obasan Motif Paper
Red
Joy Kogawa’s “Obasan” is a book of oppression and adversity in the life of
Japanese­Canadians during World War II. The book has many different symbols and motifs that represent the life of Naomi, her difficulties, and the history of oppression surrounding her race. Naomi’s personal struggles are metaphorically similar to those of the people in her culture. Kogawa often uses colors to evoke different feelings and ideas. Many times, she chooses the color red and its different shades. These colors are sometimes evoking feelings, or being used to assist with evoking. Red is used to reference different things that are red, or used in addition to describe a symbol that stands for itself and a larger, more impactful meaning. Naomi’s life is a personal struggle, as well as a cultural journey in which color, more specifically red, is used to portray different feelings and states, as well as foreshadow events and provide cultural representations of the Issei, Nisei, and Sansei.
Kogawa uses the color red and its many shades to represent and support the different feelings and states that Naomi and her family experience. In Chapter 11, Naomi is speaking of her encounters with Old Man Gower, specifically the time when he puts her on his lap and warns her not to tell her mother of what he is doing. “I am clinging to my mother’s leg, [...] a young branch attached by right of flesh and blood.” (pg. 77) The clinging to her mother represents the helplessness and vulnerability of Naomi at this point in her life. Old Man Gower has the opportunity to physically abuse Naomi because her state of vulnerability is so obvious. Analogizing a young branch to Naomi and her youthfulness, as well as the “right of flesh and blood”, show that removing self defense and leaving oneself vulnerable is common

in her culture because of pride and honor. Similarly, Naomi allows Old Man Gower to take advantage of her because she believes that resisting his actions will not only ruin her and her family’s pride, but also will go against what she finds culturally acceptable. The color red is used to reference the history of her cultures actions and how these characteristics run in her blood. In Chapter 15, Kogawa is writing about Naomi’s train ride and leaving the British
Columbia coast for Slocan. While on the train, a young woman is sitting in front of them with her new­born child. “A few seats in front, one young woman is sitting with her narrow shoulders hunched over a tiny red­faced baby.”(pg. 133) The words “young” and “narrow” all refer to the fragility and vulnerability of this woman on the train. The use of red to describe the face of the baby could have multiple different interpretations. The red could describe the sadness and distress that this child is feeling. The child is helpless. Additionally, red is often used to describe the actions and pain that much of the Japanese Canadians have endured.
The red on this new born baby’s face could represent the cultural undertakings and this child is born into. Also in chapter 15, Kogawa writes about the clothing that Naomi is wearing on this train ride, which also are different shades of the color red. “I am wearing a wine­colored dirndl skirt with straps that crisscross [...] with tiny red flowers. I have a wine­colored sweater with ivory duck buttons” (pg. 132) Dirndl skirts are cut off at the knee and are known as customary clothing in many European cultures and many styles are