Seventeen Syllables Hisaye Yamamoto

The short story “Seventeen Syllables” written by Hisaye Yamamoto is a personal account speaking from a first person point of view. Throughout the story the reader is exposed to the customs and traditions from Japan and the value and importance of doing so. Rosie is the daughter of Tome and Mr. Hayashi. Rosie is referred to as a Nisei because she is the second generation of immigrants born in the United States. The first generation of immigrants that were born in Japan is called Issei. Therefore it is imperative to Rosie’s mother Tome that she learns the family traditions, heritage and customs. However most importantly, for Tome is she learns the language because she doesn’t speak English that well thereby sending Rosie to summer school twice a week to learn the Japanese language. I can understand the importance of learning the family traditions because each generation loses some essence of their heritage. Rosie’s mother is interesting I can relate to her because she has goals for herself and works towards them. She begins to write poems in the form of her native language and it consist of seventeen syllables in total, five syllables in the first line, and 7 in the second line five again on the third line the poem is called Haiku. Amazingly, she sends in one of the poems to the editor of the newspaper. He believes she’s good and hires her to write

Hayashi is not a happy man and he doesn’t share in his wife’s enthusiasm. In fact, he is resentful that she is not spending time with their family. Everything that she does is centered on Haiku. Unfortunately, I feel he doesn’t see how her accomplishments help her grow as a person, building her self esteem, confidence and the ability to make extra money. He is the antagonist in this story and perhaps misunderstood, in their culture the man is suppose to be the head of the household and Tome is crossing the line and building resentments. If only she would have included him more things would be better for their