Joy Kogawa Analysis

The 2 literary devices that Joy Kogawa used the most effectively in this passage are similes and imagery. You can see the importance of imagery in passage, where Naomi is describing how rough life is in their chicken coop “house.” Especially in the sentence ”the water spills down your boots and your feet are red and itchy for days.” This particular sentence is so important because it appeals to two of your senses, sight and touch. You also see the use of similes in the passage, “my black head a sun-trap even though it’s covered, and lying down in the ditch, faint, and the nausea in waves and the cold sweat. In this passage imagery is important because with it Kogawa is able to explain the experiences that Japanese Canadians went through. She …show more content…
Be it the mood, topic, setting, or details; the parallels draw between these two stories are many. First and foremost the mood in each story was similar. Both families were uncertain, frightened, and apprehensive of their future and angry about their past. Both had pessimistic views on their new “house,” and during their first night both families were heartbroken. Both houses were described as falling apart be it in Forgiveness in their old shack or Obasan in their tool shed. The settings are also extremely alike. Both families are taken to isolated farms in Alberta. In both their house had rickety walls and an old stove. Both were filthy, covered in dirt and soot. Also the descriptive details used throughout the passage were similar. For example in “Forgiveness” after the family had finally settled into their new residence, “Mitsue lay as still as she could.” Then in Obasan Naomi says that, “my legs held stiff and straight.” This can be seen in many of the passages, more examples being “everything was filthy” in Forgiveness when Mitsue was describing the “house” they were given. Then in Obasan when Naomi was describing the condition of the shed, after opening the door she said, “soot and dust leap to the walls.” Finally both stories focused on the lives of Japanese Canadians as they were shuffled from one hovel to another. The authors explaining the difficulty the protagonist had with keep each of their …show more content…
Mostly they consist of variations in the descriptive details of their location and house, as well as different ways that each protagonist expresses their emotions. Examples of this in “Forgiveness” are when Mitsue is describing the shack they are being shown, “no windows or walls just wooden slats nailed together.” In “Obasan” Naomi describes the tool shed as having, “one room, one door, and two windows.” Then there is the furniture in the house. In “Forgiveness” the family is provided with one bed while in “Obasan” they were forced to sleep on quilts on the floor on their first night. There always was a difference between how organized or rushed each family was when they were ejected from Vancouver. While Mitsue’s family were forced out with only the clothes on their back with them, Naomi was lucky enough to be able to bring their luggage with them. Then there was the way that protagonists displayed their emotions. At the end of the day when Mitsue is going to sleep, “she cried all night long.” In “Obasan” though Naomi thinks, “I lie down again and close my eyes.” Instead of outwardly showing how she felt like Mitsue, Naomi attempted to pretend that the nightmare her and her family were living through simply wasn’t real. Finally the main difference between each book was the narrative voice. “Forgiveness” is in third person meaning that the story is told from an observer’s point of view. As a result the