In the third section, "All Caught Up in Our Canadian
Lives", we learn about the early years of Mary's marriage, including the
birth of her first two children, George and Mariko, and her two-year visit back
to her family in Japan. Mary also shares stories about women she knew who had
affairs or dabbled in prostitution to help make ends meet, a practice she says
was ordinary in the circumstances. What leaps out at me from these disparate
stories is the restrictions that women of Mary's generation lived their lives
under, and the kinds of lives they had to lead. What would have happened if
Mary had chosen to leave her marriage, either by following Japanese divorce
customs by returning to her father's family, running away with the Osaka man,
or with the help of a samurai nuptial sword? Would either of the first two
options have yielded her a happier life? And what does her choice to stay with
her husband say about her? Is it a sign of her character as an individual in
some way, or of the strength of her culture's influence on her - because a
Meiji man and woman, even in Canada, marry for keeps?
Other things I'm thinking about:
There have been a few rather violent stories scattered
throughout the book so far. What does this say about the world Mary lived in?
Do you think these stories are extraordinary? Does Mary imply some kind of
moral from them?
Mary says she never learned much English, but enough to be
able to speak her mind. In fact, this book is a translation from her own
original words, but one written by her son in a way that tried to mimick her
voice. How would this story be different if we were reading it in Japanese? Is
it easy to forget that the text is a translation?
What other parts of this section did you find interesting
and why?
Be sure to check back next week for some discussion on part
4!
-Carolyn
Her recollections certainly paint an even more bleak picture of life for issei than typically represented. She seems quite matter of fact about them and a few times referred to being young and wanting adventure. Her admission about the man on the boat seems also remarkably frank, although since she didn't actually run off to California perhaps it shows the resolution of her chracter. She did suggest she was more emotional about leaving her children in Japan than I have heard before, understandable as her feelings are.
ReplyDeleteAlso I thought it was funny how she mentioned seeing Manzo Nagano on the boat and that she was surprised to see later that he was the first Japanese and that she didn't think he knew he was either. Makes me wonder about all that.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's kind of interesting to think about how we put these labels on people and events historically, but at the time, Manzo Nagano was just a guy...he didn't walk around with a sign saying "First Japanese immigrant to Canada" around his neck, it's only in retrospect that we've done that.
DeleteIt makes you wonder who is around nowadays who will become a famous historical figure, a hundred or more years from now!
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