NGO Research Assignment: Obasan
Obasan is a novel about the treatment of Japanese Canadians in the time of World War Two. The story follows a 5-year old girl named Naomi and her family as they, among the thousands of Japanese Canadians living on the West Coast, are seen as “enemy aliens” by their own country after the bombing of Pearl Harbour. They face extreme racism as they are stripped of their rights, jobs, and property and are exiled from their homes into internment camps and ghost towns. These characters would have benefited greatly from the help of Non-Government Organizations that stand today, supporting them through their hardships and inequality.
Child Sexual Abuse
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“He begins to undress me. I do not resist. One does not resist adults. But I know this is unnecessary for my knee. He is only pretending to fix my scratch” (63).
Before being exiled to a ghost town away from the West Coast, Naomi was repetitively sexually abused by her neighbour Old Man Gower. He took advantage of her naivety and vulnerability as a child and forced her to obey him as he molested her. Organizations such as the Canadian Centre for Child Protection and Kids Help Phone could help her by giving her somewhere she can openly speak about her victimization and provide her parents with information that could help them prevent further abuse.
Before being exiled to a ghost town away from the West Coast, Naomi was repetitively sexually abused by her neighbour Old Man Gower. He took advantage of her naivety and vulnerability as a child and forced her to obey him as he molested her. Organizations such as the Canadian Centre for Child Protection and Kids Help Phone could help her by giving her somewhere she can openly speak about her victimization and provide her parents with information that could help them prevent further abuse.
Bullying
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“…[Naomi] thinks she’s the same as the neighbours, but Stephen knows the difference. Came crying home the other day because some kid on the block broke his violin. Children can be such savages” (84).
Stephen, Naomi’s brother, was targeted with bullying from his classmates and other children for a lot of his childhood due to society’s discrimination against Japanese Canadians as Japan was at war with Canada and the Allies. Bullying.org is an organization that increases awareness of bullying and could help him find ways or strategies to resolve or prevent bullying attacks. The Kids Help Phone organization could also allow him to voice his bullying issues.
Stephen, Naomi’s brother, was targeted with bullying from his classmates and other children for a lot of his childhood due to society’s discrimination against Japanese Canadians as Japan was at war with Canada and the Allies. Bullying.org is an organization that increases awareness of bullying and could help him find ways or strategies to resolve or prevent bullying attacks. The Kids Help Phone organization could also allow him to voice his bullying issues.
Racism
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“We’re a ‘lower order of people’. In one breath we are d*mned for being ‘inassimilable’ and the next there’s fear that we’ll assimilate” (87).
Racism plays a dominant role in the novel, greatly impacting the lives of Naomi, her family, and many other Japanese Canadians. This discrimination came from prejudiced fear of Japanese Canadians being allied spies with Japan in the Second World War. Citizens born in Canada but were a part of the “visual minority” were labelled “Japs” and “enemy aliens”, then stripped of their properties (houses, boats, radios, etc.), given curfews, and denied entrance to public areas marked with “no Japs allowed” signs. Organizations such as Human Rights Watch and The Canadian Anti-racism Education and Research Society (CAERS) could help Naomi’s family and other Japanese Canadian people by bringing awareness to their unfair treatment and provide their federal and provincial governments with advice for creating anti-racism policies.
Racism plays a dominant role in the novel, greatly impacting the lives of Naomi, her family, and many other Japanese Canadians. This discrimination came from prejudiced fear of Japanese Canadians being allied spies with Japan in the Second World War. Citizens born in Canada but were a part of the “visual minority” were labelled “Japs” and “enemy aliens”, then stripped of their properties (houses, boats, radios, etc.), given curfews, and denied entrance to public areas marked with “no Japs allowed” signs. Organizations such as Human Rights Watch and The Canadian Anti-racism Education and Research Society (CAERS) could help Naomi’s family and other Japanese Canadian people by bringing awareness to their unfair treatment and provide their federal and provincial governments with advice for creating anti-racism policies.
Work Cited
Kogawa, Joy. Obasan. Markham: Penguin Books, 1983. Print.