The Struggle In The Girls Of Nowhere Mill

The girls in Nowhere Mill have been trapped for a very long time and cannot find a way out. Over the years, they have transformed into women the mill wants them to be, rather than who they really are. When Dai dies, the thought of rebelling starts to enter the girls’ minds. They realize there may be a way out and they must do everything in their power to get back to their old lives. Even though they finally rebel, the girls are still trapped. The girls have changed so drastically from their old lives that there is no going back. Even though the women are trapped inside of the creatures they have become, their human will builds hope that one day they will be able to escape Nowhere Mill. The girls’ families were all desperate for money, …show more content…
As Kitsune is reeling the agent’s cocoon, she states, “The last thing I see before shutting his eyes is the reflection of my shining new face” (Russell 52). At this point, Kitsune finally gets to see what she has become. She comes to the realization that she has changed so much since she left with the agent. She is a completely new being, no longer the young innocent girl, but a strong beast. In the beginning, we learn that Kitsune is unlike the other girls because she independently makes her own decisions. She does not only rebel by forging a signature, but by killing the agent. Kitsune completes her transformation away from being a human once she kills the agent. That is the final stage in proving that Kitsune cannot go back to her old life. There is now no turning back for Kitsune. She is no longer an innocent girl standing up for her family, but an independent being that will not let anyone get in the way of her getting what she wants. Kitsune has changed so much and it is represented by her silk. She, like the other girls, is producing silk at a rate that silkworms cannot. The silk represents the girls’ past lives that they are leaving behind. Every time the girls release silk, they lose more of their human lives. They continue to change into these animals. The girls have very little of the human lives still, and the mill is …show more content…
The blind woman represents the Japanese population ignoring the problems of the workers. Kitsune says, “The woman never speaks to us, no matter what questions we shout at her” (Russell 28). There is no hope for these girls because there is nobody that is willing to stand up to the agent and save the girls. The blind woman is clueless to what is happening with the girls. They are being completely mistreated and forced to do labor that violates human rights. The blind woman is representative of the outside world turning a blind eye towards the mistreatment of the girls. The outside world, including the girls’ families, is completely clueless to what is happening in the mill. The girls are being treated like the creatures they have turned into and are given no respect. This mistreatment of employees is representative of what happened in the industrial revolution in Japan. Japan was being westernized and built many different factories and mills. The people working in these factories were treated poorly, but had to do it for money. Nobody stood up for these workers and the author is creating sympathy for the employees of the industrial revolution. The world turned a blind eye on the girls in the mill and ignored the dreadful lives they had to live. Their will to survive is not strong enough to get the attention of the outside