The Buddha In The Attic By Julie Otsuka

In Julie Otsuka’s novel “The Buddha in the Attic,” the stark discrepancy in the image the Japanese picture brides had of America as a place of promise and the harsh, unaccepting America they actually encountered is a disparity fueled by the exclusivity and oppression of the dominant culture that subjugated them. Otsuka actively challenges the romanticization of the American Dream and exposes the truth of the concept, emphasizing the secluded nature of the immigrant American story that closely parallels my own family’s experience living in the Bay Area.
America has long held an international reputation as being the land of utmost opportunity, which is responsible for the notion of prosperity that drove the Japanese picture brides and my parents

to this country. During the boat ride to America, it was the hope of what the future held for them in a new country that made the misery of their conditions more bearable: “But even the most reluctant of us had to admit that it was better to marry a stranger in America than grow old with a farmer from the village. Because in America the women did not have to work in the fields and there was plenty of rice and firewood for all” (Otsuka 7). Much more than just another country of vast physical size and dimension, America symbolized a new beginning for the women far removed from the limitations they were accustomed to back home because of their gender. Considering the restricting effect of gender expectations in today’s society through stereotypes in the media, the lack of mobility the women felt is very tangible and makes me feel proud of them for attempting to break the barriers in their way. Specifically, this passage shows the power of the American Dream and its appeal, as even those who held suspicion of the reality of life in America and what their new status would be believed that it was going to be better than staying home, as they associated Japan with “villages” and “growing old.” Both of these descriptions create an image of a country that was not very advanced and that did not allow women the opportunity to make any significant impact in their communities because they were given the role of “work[ing] in the fields,” causing them to lose their age to jobs that did not make use of their attributes. Lastly, by emphasizing that the amount of “rice” and “firewood” could supply everyone, the women had the assumption that there would be an abundance of resources available to them; they would not need to worry about getting food because there would be enough food for them to eat and enough supplies for them to cook. Although I myself never had to experience the difficult process of immigrating to America, I have attempted to insert myself in my parents’ shoes when talking to them about their story coming here and it is not hard to see that stories like theirs are validated. Coming from poverty-stricken communities in Mexico and El Salvador where they worked the fields by harvesting crops under the blazing sun, they were attracted by the prospect of obtaining jobs that were not so physically exhausting and that would earn them enough money to live comfortably and help them start a family. Something my mom and dad both emphasized, which was not an immediate concern to the women in the novel, is the fact that they wanted to live in a safer country where they did not have to constantly fear for their lives because of the gang violence around them. Both the stories of the Japanese picture brides and my parents make their fascination with the country extremely understandable and help add further clarity to the reasons they had for coming to America.
The oppressive actions of the dominant culture against the Japanese picture brides highlighted the country’s unaccepting nature, separating the America of the womens’ dreams further from the America they interacted with firsthand, a wide divide between the expectations and reality of this country that my own family has discovered from our time in Marin County.

Contrary to anything they had hoped for when coming to America, the Japanese picture brides experienced cruelty derived from the white community: “They did not want us as neighbors in their valleys. They did not want us as friends. We lived in unsightly shacks… Sometimes they dynamited our packing sheds… and we wondered if we had made a mistake, coming to such a violent and unwelcoming land” (35-36). It is clear that the white community was the clear antagonist of the Japanese women, as they stood in the way of their attempts to integrate into society. As can be seen through this passage, the dominant culture wanted to maintain a homogenous society containing only people with similar identities to their own, causing them to isolate the Japanese picture brides as a way to exert their power over them. The women were not allowed as “neighbors in their valleys” and had to resort to “liv[ing] in unsightly shacks,” imperceptible to any human eyes, as if they were invisible and did not exist. The dominant culture even resorted to physical means to widen the gap between them and the women they perceived as inferior, performing evil acts like “dynamit[ing] [their] packing sheds” as a clear tactic to get rid of their most prized possessions and prevent them from making any advances on their contributions to American society that could surpass their own. When juxtaposed with the hopeful image seen earlier of an America that could provide them with a place to refresh their lives and identities, the phrase “violent and unwelcoming land” demonstrates the idea that this raw, unfiltered version of America they came to

experience was not what they were expecting because it seems they encountered worse problems than the ones they originally had back home. Since my parents are undocumented, I have seen that the legal status of my parents has prohibited us from fully engaging with the world, making us the “other” like the Japanese women, something we never expected would happen. In cases where we have wanted to call the police, I have had to serve as the spokesperson for my family because of the constant fear my parents have that law enforcement can deport them even though they have never committed a crime. In America, I have witnessed that being undocumented means playing a game of trying not to be “seen,” remaining under the radar as a way to remain safe. While most of my peers and their families are free to act in whatever way they want without really having to second-guess themselves, we have had to assess our situations because for us, the repercussions of our actions can be a matter of remaining together as a family or being separated from one another. Although my family has never been physically targeted, it is clear we operate in a world distinct from that of the dominant culture, identical to the Japanese women in the novel.
Although the American Dream continues to be sustained by people who risk leaving their home country and immigrating to the United States in hopes of a more prosperous future, stories like that of the Japanese picture brides and my parents show that the concept has become a false image of hope and equality. Just like the Japanese women were seen as the “enemy” (85) after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in the eyes of the dominant culture, Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric has made the American Dream even less attainable because of the negative associations people have with these people who simply come here in search of better lives. Thus, instead of continuing to popularize the concept, we should instead focus on sharing what it means to be an immigrant in America. Giving voice to these silenced individuals and giving them the opportunity to speak truth to their power is what is more valuable and productive, as displaying their humanity is what will capture the compassion of people and help foster a more diverse American society inclusive to all.