Another week, another section of Mothertalk! I've loved reading your comments on the book so far.
We've had some interesting observations about how Mary, as a woman, still
carried on the samurai spirit in her own way even while following a mostly
typical life path for women at the time (marriage and children). People also
seem to be enjoying Mary's different perspective on Japanese Canadian history,
which doesn't gloss over the hardships or heartbreaks of her difficult life and
marriage. This only gets more true as we read the next section, "Keeping
the Dream of Uniting the Family Alive".
I find a lot of the stories in this section heartbreaking in
small ways, ways that add up to show the bigger painful experiences of Mary's
life. Mary talks more about how it felt to be separated from her two eldest
children, George and Mariko, when she left them to be raised by their
grandparents in Japan, and perhaps more painfully, how it felt when they
finally were reunited as almost-strangers. We also hear some things about her
younger children whom she raised in Canada, such as Harry and Roy's antics and
injuries. Mary notes that the younger children have a bond from growing up
together sharing beds in their small East Calgary house, and also from growing
up "in a white man's world" (115). But I think it would be too simple
to say that Mary was close to her younger children and alienated from George
and Mariko: after all, at the time she told these stories, Mary was living with
Mariko, and she talks about how George and Mariko are the only ones who
understand her culture and also the only ones who speak her language in a
meaningful way, since they were also raised in Japan. Moreover, George did join
the family at age thirteen, and Mary brought her infant daughter Irene to Japan
with her to visit Mariko for two years, from 1938 to 1940. In what ways do you
think the Kiyookas like a tight-knit family? How are they not?
Other things I'm thinking about:
Mary tells more stories about women who became prostitutes
in this section, including situations on both sides of the Pacific. Why do you
think she tells so many different anecdotes related to prostitution? How does
the story about the Japanese brothel compare to other stories Mary has told?
Another thread running through this section is Mary's memories
of the political and economic conditions at the time: in particular, the Great
Depression and the fallout with the Chinese Canadian community after Japanese
aggression in Manchuria. How do Mary's allusions to these events as parts of
her life relate to your previous knowledge and ways of thinking about them as
history? Do they seem interconnected with the other stories in this section, or
merely incidental?
What other parts of this section did you find interesting
and why?
Next week is part 5, when we learn about the Kiyookas' life
during the period of Japanese Canadian internment. It'll be a fascinating
discussion, and I hope you'll join us again! I'll also be announcing the next
Nikkei book club pick for April/May...stay tuned!
-Carolyn
Having just discussed for our podcast children going to Japan, it was interesting to read about the negative impact of this practise which did seem so widespread. My Mom told me she had fights with Chinese kids before the war and I heard prejudiced things about Chinese (I probably shouldnt be mentioning this because my wife is of Chinese descent). Nowadays Asian-Canadian seems to be a thing, but it seems that back then did not want to have anything to do with each other.
ReplyDeleteVery true! I think the "Asian-Canadian" thing got started around the 1970s, with the publication of the Inalienable Rice anthology. I wonder what that shift in thinking says about the way the culture has changed here in Canada since the 1930s.
Delete