The Housekeeper And The Professor By Yoko Ogawa

The Housekeeper and the Professor: Nature is Man, Math is Neither

In the Japanese fiction novel written by Yoko Ogawa, The Housekeeper and the Professor focuses primarily on how family is not always bound together by blood. In the year 1975, sixty-four year old mathematician who once was a professor, gets into a horrific accident. Because of this accident, he encountered serious brain damage, primarily in the part of his brain associated with memory. His memory now only lasts about eighty minutes, with the exception of the recollection of events that occurred prior to the accident.Through the unnamed characters, Yoko Ogawa tells on the importance of new beginnings and second chances, how memory and time will fail us all, and how family

The mathematical equations were very intriguing and challenging, making one want to keep striving for better knowledge of this novel, as well as the vast world of number theory. The professor’s field of research was number theory. He no longer is able to actively research this topic due to his brain damage. A single mother, the housekeeper, has been employed by an agency to take care of a new client, the old professor. After learning the housekeeper has a son, ‘Root’, the professor insists on him coming over every day after school. The housekeeper noticed, “A number that cycled on forever and another vague figure that never revealed its true nature now traced a short and elegant trajectory to a single point. Though there was no circle in evidence, (pie) had descended from somewhere to join hands with e. There they rested, slumped against each other, and it only remained for a human being to add 1, and the world suddenly changed. Everything resolved into nothing, zero.” (Ogawa, 127). Together they all bonded over math and baseball, going to baseball games to celebrate winnings and birthdays. This connects with one of the main themes of the novel, how family is not always bonded together by