How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"Everyone someday dies," she says again. By repeating this so often, I suppose she is trying to make realizable what is real. (8.21)
The way that Obasan repeat these words is almost like an incantation. What magic is Obasan wielding? What magical powers does language have in this novel?
Quote #5
Who is it who teaches me that in the language of eyes a stare is an invasion and a reproach? Grandma Kato? Obasan? Uncle? Mother? Each one raised in Japan, speaks the same language; but Aunt Emily and father, born and raised in Canada, are visually bilingual. I too learn the second language. (9.2)
Remember that there are lots of different kinds of language. Not just verbal language, but body language, and the language of the eyes. How do you think Naomi feels about being bilingual in so many languages?
Quote #6
"It was not good, was it?" Mother says. "Yoku nakatta ne." Three words. Good, negation of good in the past tense, agreement with statement. It is not a language that promotes hysteria. There is no blame or pity. I am not responsible. The hen is not responsible. My mother does not look at me when she says this. She squats beside the box and we watch the trembling chicks together. "Kyotsuke nakattara abunai," she says. "If there is not carefulness, there is danger." (11.20)
Here the structure of Japanese helps to calm Naomi after a disaster. But Japanese is a double-edged sword, because the same thing that calms her here is also the source of her confusion. Since spoken Japanese often lacks subjects (a more direct translation of Yoku nakatta is "wasn't good") it's really easy to get confused. If the person listening doesn't understand the context, it's totally possible for two people to have a conversation about entirely different things. And that's what happens. Throughout most of the novel Naomi thinks that her family was talking about one thing, but really they are talking about something totally different.