The Buddha In The Attic Summary

794 Words2 Pages

In “The Buddha in the Attic” by Julie Otsuka is a fiction novel that is based around picture brides that is sent to San Francisco. The author is demonstrating the hard work that most immigrants have to go through in order to enhance their lives. This novel can contribute to a history lesson in a sense of war and how the Japanese was treated during that time. I am against the author’s way of fooling around with the women’s emotional state; she puts men as superior beings and the women are kept as slaves and dull human beings. Yet I do agree with Otsuka when the picture brides pray to different gods to make their life better and I acknowledge the hard work the picture wives had to go through.
“The Buddha in the Attic” is a short novel that …show more content…

Throughout the novel, Otsuka continuously makes remarks toward women being belittled and not having a say towards anything. The picture brides went over as immigrants, not knowing english and trying to adjust to our own culture. This was difficult for them because they had to make sacrifices in order for them to have a positive outcome while being in America. Yet it was not easy for them because during the 1900s women was better known as staying in the kitchen; meanwhile for the picture wives they had to do manual labor besides taking care of the children and cleaning the house. Otsuka stated “ A girl must blend into a room: she must be present without appearing to exist” (p. 6). This statement alone proves how women are looked at throughout the novel; the women are there but just to do the basic doings and have little interactions with other people. Otsuka makes several different points on how women do not really have any importance besides to bare children and do house duties. Yet all of this could have been avoided if the picture wives were not used mentally and emotionally. The picture wives had pictures of their spouses who were young, healthy and very wealthy, but when they got off the boat they saw old men that saw their ad in the paper and played them (p. 18). The picture that their spouses sent them were twenty years old and

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of When The Emperor Was Divine

    725 Words  | 2 Pages

    The fight and courage she keeps for her children reflects the reality of the thousands of prisoners who were wrongly sent away and sripped of their identity, innocence and self worth. While the woman is faced with abandoning her family 's comfortable home and becoming the main caregiver for her two children, and strongly represents the large amount of Japanese-Americans who went through psychological, financial and physical burdens during their time at the internment camps. When The Emperor Was Divine did a fantastic job of giving a voice to those who were too afraid to speak up and let their stories be

    Read More

  • The House Of Lim Summary

    710 Words  | 2 Pages

    In her book, The House of Lim, author Margery Wolf observes the Lims, a large Chinese family living in a small village in Taiwan in the early 1960s (Wolf iv). She utilizes her book to portray the Lim family through multiple generations. She provides audiences with a firsthand account of the family life and structure within this specific region and offers information on various customs that the Lims and other families participate in. She particularly mentions and explains the marriage customs that are the norm within the society. Through Wolf’s ethnography it can be argued that parents should not dec5pide whom their children marry. This argument is obvious through the decline in marriage to simpua, or little girls taken in and raised as future daughter-in-laws, and the influence parents have over their children (Freedman xi).

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Otsuka's 'The Buddha In The Attic'

    1215 Words  | 3 Pages

    Living on the border of California towns, brides are not welcome in the white communities. “We settled on the edges of their towns, when they would let us” (22-3). It puts a pressure on their geographic location and adds difficulty to be recognized and transform into their culture. From the beginning of time, women have been treated inferior to their male counterparts and this is a key picture as the brides in search for acceptance. The phrase “… when they would let us…” proved that gender and race prejudices have power to move them around. The brides learned to revolve their lives to find acceptance by the general society by playing the correct gender role of submissiveness. “Most of us on the boat were accomplished, and were sure we would make good wives. We knew how to cook and sew. We knew how to serve tea and arrange flowers and sit quietly on our flat wide feet for hours… A girl must blend into a room; she must be present without appearing to exist” (6-7). The geographical factor is not the only thing that created a culture distance. Japanese identities were rejected from white culture. Without identity, their husband and their community will never accept them;

    Read More

  • Stealing Buddha's Dinner Essay

    1201 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the Stealing Buddha’s Dinner, the author Bich Minh Nguyen recounts her story settling and growing up in America. As an immigrant, she recounts her experience leaving her motherland and arriving to this nation of diversity. Nguyen began to see the “American” ways of life. As because of being considered as the “other” who is living in America, she looks to be a part of this culture by adapting to anything considered American while still maintaining her Vietnamese culture. Throughout the book, she also crosses religious paths especially when encountering America’s prominent faith: Christianity. She’s put at this crossroad to either conform to the standards in order to fit in or to continue on being the outsider. This book reveals the tough

    Read More

  • Buddha Boy Analysis

    231 Words  | 1 Pages

    Justin the main character from Buddha Boy Written by Kathe Koja, is a Judgmental teenager. In the beginning all Justin cares about is fitting in and and staying out of trouble with the popular kids. Until a new kid Jinsen wears an oversized tie-dyed dragon T- shirts, shaves his head, and always seems to be happy. Justin thinks “… just strange, or one of those deep-sea plants, waving waxy fingers on the ocean floor.” (pg.7) This quote shows Justin can be really disapproving or negative about other people and he might not think much before actually meeting the person. Later In the story Justin thinks more about who the person is and the actions they do. Justin said “I think it’s nobody’s d*** business what she wears.” (pg.73) Justin Becomes

    Read More

  • The Things They Carried

    1606 Words  | 4 Pages

    Joy Kogawa and Tim O’Brien: two authors that have wielded their mastery of the English language to yield literary masterpieces that reflect not only their own struggles, but the hardships of multitudes around them. In her acclaimed Obasan, Joy Kogawa illustrates the intense discrimination that was faced by Japanese-Canadians during World War 2, and provides many reflective anecdotes to give the reader some insight on her personal situation. Tim O’Brien accomplishes basically the same goal in The Things They Carried by giving the reader many brief stories about his time in the Vietnam War. These two books- though incredibly different on the surface - share a plethora of themes and symbology, as well as many similar events. They do not, however, emphasize or present these ideas in the same way. Each of these authors has a unique way of incorporating their own themes or values into their writing, which gives the reader an entirely different view of what may be happening.

    Read More

  • The Buddha In The Attic By Julie Otsuka

    1350 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Freedom and Human Rights: When The Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka

    1277 Words  | 3 Pages

    There were many events that happened in the past which people were fighting for their rights and freedoms. In the novel “When The Emperor Was Divine” by Julie Otsuka, she uses this novel to tell the readers about the importance of freedom and human right. In the story, she did not mention the name of the main characters, but the characters that involve in this novel is a Japanese family who get arrest by the American because of their ethnicities. First, their father got arrested by the American because the American doubted that this man was a spy from Japan. Then their whole family got arrested into the Japanese Concentration Camp in the desert. They were ordered not to go through the fence of the camp or else they will get kill by the soldiers who guarding the camp. This means that their freedoms were taken away by the camp. In the story, the girl’s personality was changed because of this camp. She starts to realize that this “camp” was nothing but a jail. So she started to give on her life and not to care about anything. She used to eat with her family, but now she never did; also she started to smoke cigarette in her ages of 14 to15. Also their human rights were being taken while their were in the camp. They were being force to admit to America for their loyalty. It makes all the Japanese people to feel low self-esteem for their identity. Therefore, the author uses this novel to show the changing of this family by the lack of freedom and human right.

    Read More

  • Racial Discrimination in Obasan and Itsuka by Jow Kogawa

    1292 Words  | 3 Pages

    The world is filled with different kinds of hatred caused by different reasons. For instance, people may hate others because of their gender, or for having different beliefs. Perhaps people hate others based on their cultural representation instead of who they really are as an individual, whether that representation is a religion or a race. This single fact of racial discrimination has caused many terrible and tragic events in history such as the holocaust, slavery, and among them is the evacuation and relocation of Japanese Canadians during World War II. In the novels ¡®Obasan¡¯ and ¡®Itsuka¡¯ by Joy Kogawa, the main protagonist Naomi and her family go through the mistreatment and racial discrimination, which occurred to all Japanese Canadians during World War II. Obasan, which focuses on the past, and Itsuka, which focuses on the present, are novels that are similarly based around Naomi¡¯s experiences during the war. These painful experiences leave Naomi with tormenting memories, which she will never forget or fully recover from. However, Naomi¡¯s strong beliefs help her to eventually overcome the immense hardships. Finally, Naomi¡¯s past is becomes the very soil that allowed fruition of her future. Both novels Obasan and Itsuka are similar in a way that it is focused on protagonist Naomi¡¯s experiences during the relocation, with her strong faith allows her to overcome the hardship and realize her past has constructed her future.

    Read More

  • A Monk's Journey: A Short Story Of Finding Buddha

    521 Words  | 2 Pages

    This short story was about a monk who wanted to find Buddha, so he set off to find him. While he was on the boat, he saw his dead body floating and, according to the reading, he began the process of liberation. I believe this short story is about finding oneself and feeling relieved that they’ve reached that goal. In this case, this monk believes that Buddha is a person, and he sets this goal to find him. The journey was about realization and finding out that Buddha isn’t exactly a specific person—he can be the Buddha. A Buddha is someone who is free of everything that’s negative. The corpse represents his reality, his present state, and by facing that reality, it helped him set free.

    Read More

  • Women in The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie

    1399 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...e women face their opposition with a warrior's strength; yet also with a maternal-like gentle compassion. Whether it is picking up the pieces of a broken family, reaching out to a community, or having pride in one's heritage and background, the women all show a sincere dedication that is truly admirable. A woman's life is never easy, and the additional struggles of being a Native American make life on the Spokane reservation even harder. But these women bless the shields of their warriors as they face the unjust world, and they look towards the future with a warrior's spirit themselves.

    Read More

  • Selling-Out the Asian-American Community in Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club

    673 Words  | 2 Pages

    tan's heroines gain identity by separating themselves from and looking down on their culture. when the heroine in "the kitchen god's wife" hears about her grand auntie's "spirit money," she sneers are her aunt's attempt to "bribe her way along to chinese-heaven" immediately suggests a negative contrast to the "truer" western heaven.

    Read More

  • The Role of Women in Tibetan Buddhism

    4429 Words  | 9 Pages

    “In Tantric Buddhism, we are dealing with a misogynist, destructive, masculine philosophy and religion which is hostile to life – i.e. the precise opposite of that for which it is trustingly and magnanimously welcomed in the figure of the Dalai Lama.”[1] Within Tibetan Buddhism, there is an inherent contradiction regarding the status of women. Although in many aspects women are seen and treated as inferior to men, several of the ancient and fundamental values of Tibetan Buddhism, and more specifically Tantric Buddhism, emphasize equality of the sexes, universal compassion, and most importantly the significant and essential role of the woman. Tibetan Buddhist nuns have been trying to correct this contradiction for years to remove the inferior and degrading stereotype that defines them and to be seen as equal to men. Beginning with the emergence of Tibetan Buddhism from India until today, the status of women, both physically and symbolically has declined due to the patriarchal system adopted by Tibet. “The mystery of Tantric Buddhism consists in the sacrifice of the feminine principle and the manipulation of erotic love in order to attain universal androcentric power.”[2] In their patriarchal society, the symbol of the woman is used by men now as an instrument; manipulated by men in order to acquire control and power.

    Read More

  • Japanese Immigrants Coming To America Essay

    936 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the late 1800’s many farmers from Japan had dreamed of coming to America not only for a chance at a better life but more importantly to escape the economic hardships they encountered in their homeland. For many, however, this dream had become a reality. Searching for a way out of the terrible predicament, poverty-stricken farmers saw America as a gold mine where “money grew on trees.” While women in China were restricted to home and farm work, sixty percent of industrial laborers in Japan were women. China also promoted male emigration but Japan, ruled by a strong central government and able to regulate emigration, sent a majority of female emigrants. Thousands of female emigrants from Japan were known as “picture brides”. In Japan, the marriage between a man and a women were often

    Read More

  • Chan Samadhi: Enlightenment in Buddhism

    863 Words  | 2 Pages

    doubts is shattered. As those who drink water will feel the hot or cold by

    Read More

More about The Buddha In The Attic Summary

Open Document