How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
It wasn't a fishing vessel or an ordinary yacht, but a sleek boat designed by Father, made over many years and many winter evenings. A work of art. "What a beauty," the RCMP officer said in 1941 when he saw it. He shouted as he sliced back through the wake, "What a beauty! What a beauty!" (4.28)
Because Uncle's boat is so beautiful, it makes the confiscation of all the fishermen's boats even more emotional. Later, we see Uncle taken away in the same way that his beautiful boat was.
Quote #2
"Why in a time of war with Germany and Japan would our government seize the property and homes of Canadian-born Canadians but not the homes of German-born Germans?" she asked angrily. (7.59)
Good question. Aunt Emily's answer is racism. What's yours?
Quote #3
There was a picture of a young Nisei boy with a metal lunch box and it said he was a spy with a radio transmitter. (14.52)
This is ridiculous. Radio transmitters make horrible lunchboxes. Why do you think the white Canadians feel compelled to make these racist statements? What does that have to do with World War II and the perception of Japan as a nation?
Quote #4
Dan has a lawyer working for him and his parents about their desire to stay together, especially since Dan's father is blind and his mother speaks no English at all. The lawyer went to the Security Commission's lawyers and reported back that he was told to let the matter drift because they were going to make sure the Japs suffered as much as possible. (14.88)
The Security Commission's lawyers say that they want to make Japanese people suffer as much as possible. This scene foreshadows the young boy killing a chicken in Granton. He also says that the chicken has to suffer.
Quote #5
Ye gods! The newspapers are saying that there are actually Japanese naval officers living on the coast. It must be a mistake. [...] Maybe the articles are true. I wonder if there's a cover-up. (14.92)
Wow. The propaganda is so good that it's even got Aunt Emily.
Quote #6
Obviously white Canadians feel more loyalty toward white foreigners than they do toward us Canadians. (14.94)
We like to think about it as a totem pole of prejudice. Unfortunately for Naomi and the Japanese Canadians, racism is always higher on the totem pole than xenophobia.
Quote #7
''Never met a kid didn't like stories. Red skin, yellow skin, white skin, any skin." He puts his brown leathery, arm beside Kenji's pale one. "Don't make sense, do it, all this fuss about skin?" (12.29)
Rough Lock Bill is the only white person in the novel who actually speaks out against prejudice. He's a dude who lives in a shack in the middle of a forest, but he seems better educated than anyone.
Quote #8
What is it she smells? What foreign odor sends its message down into her body, alerting her limbs? If only I could banish all that offends her delicate sensibilities. Especially the strong smell of miso and daikon and shoyu. Especially all the dust that Obasan and I are too short to see. Mrs. Barker's glance at Obasan is one of condescension. Or is it solicitude? We are dogs, she and I, sniffing for clues, our throats quivering with subliminal growls. (34.28)
How do you think Naomi feels during this scene? How about Mrs. Barker? What about Obasan?
Quote #9
"It was a terrible business what we did to our Japanese," Mr. Barker says. Ah, here we go again. "Our Indians". "Our Japanese". "A terrible business". (34.48)
This is an example of a micro-aggression. We are sure that Mr. Barker didn't mean to be prejudiced, but racism is so deeply embedded into his worldview that he's patronizing without even realizing it. It's obviously not as bad as taking people's homes and sending them into internment camps, but it still perpetuates prejudice.
Quote #10
Does it so much matter that these questions are always asked? Particularly by strangers? These are icebreaker questions that create an awareness of ice. (34.51)
We can tell that Naomi is a little self-conscious about her anger over micro aggressions. What's the big deal? Naomi answers it in the last sentence. These phrases only push people farther apart instead of bringing them together.