Essay 4 Rough Draft

Essay 4

How does place shape Kiyoshi identity?

After reading “All I Asking For is My Body” I began to question was this story about a typical Japanese family or did circumstance make this family interact the way it did? According to Webster culture is the knowledge, values, goals, practices and beliefs shared by a society. Our culture uniquely shapes us into what we think we should be. Two things shaped Kiyoshi’s identity, being Japanese and living in Hawaii in the 1930’s and 40’s. Plantation life and family culture are important factors in understanding the context that makes “All I Asking For is My Body” relatable to today’s reader.
Plantation life on Hawaii involved working in the sugar fields. This was back breaking work in harsh conditions. The workers were in the fields six to seven days a week, 10 hours a day and where paid a very low wage. If they missed a day of work they were often required to work double that time to make up for it. Plantation life was very structured. A caste system was used to maintain plantation life. This is a system of social stratification; an important group identifier. Caste systems are used to segregate, discriminate and oppress the people in them. Sometimes groups within the caste system will discriminate against others groups; identifying them by their mode of speaking or dress, as with Makot’s family. The caste system was used to divide the camps, on the plantation, based on ethnic identity. This allowed the plantation boss to retain control. The companies owned the houses, the stores and ran the mess hall and the bathhouses. They provided the doctor, hospital, schools and even ran the railroad. Many plantations housed more than 3,000 people employing at least 1,000 of them. Working for low wages there was little left over after everyday things and it was impossible to get ahead.
When workers went on strike to get higher wages and better working conditions they were replaced by other immigrant groups. These groups were given a slightly higher wage as an incentive but, when the strikes were over the wages went back down. Farmers from Japan, allowed to migrate to Hawaii, were mostly members of the lower caste. They grabbed at the chance to better themselves, something not possible for them in Japan. Plantation life was not so different from the life they lived in Japan. Poverty and hard work was accepted and only surpassed by the high Japanese virtues of obligation, duty and loyalty. In this story when Mr. Snook, the eight grade teacher wanted the Japanese children to become less submissive he told them, “Freedom means being your own boss,” the children responded that “freedom means being a plantation boss.” (pg. 34)
The sugar plantation system affected life in Hawaii physically, politically and economically. With each wave of immigrants came new religions, new animals and plants, new cuisines and a plantation language known as pidgin or da`kine. With a better understanding of plantation life looking at Japanese culture will let us see if place or culture affected Kiyoshi’s identity more.
To understand the foundation of this story better let’s look at Japanese culture. Japanese people lived in an agricultural environment that was structured in the caste system. Born into their place in society it was almost impossible to change their status. Japanese families believed that the family unit is more important than the individual. Japanese people feel separated by their sense of uniqueness. They have a basic identity of race and culture that is distinct from others. Over centuries their interpersonal relationships have shaped their language, what actual words mean and their social manners. Ingrained into Japanese people is importance of not offending, disappointing or inconveniencing others. If this is done, even if there is a slight chance, it can cause shame and embarrassment. These things are to be avoided at all cost.
To gain further knowledge of Japanese people one must look into how important their religion is to them. Japanese people usually practice Buddhism and Confucianism. Buddhism introduced a mystical dimension that transcends the natural world into the Japanese way of life. It gives room for superstitions, the concept of luck, “saving face”, buying good fortune and belief in the afterlife. According to Wikipedia; the main idea of Confucianism is the cultivation of virtue and the development of moral perfection. It is a complex system of moral, social, political, philosophical and religious thought. Two of its main themes are “Filial Piety” the respect a child must show to their parents both living and dead and the concept of social harmony. Social harmony is the practice of everyone knowing their place in the social order and playing that part well. These religions also place an importance on education and hard work, stress order, emphasize loyalty and personal relationships and dictate standards of behavior.
Japanese people believe that a two parent household is preferable and that family responsibility takes precedence over everything else. The family decides the fate of the individual members. Kiyoshi’s father was the head of the family but it was his mother that influenced the children’s way of thinking. She had an obligation to her family this obligation was fulfilled through acquiescence and service. She installed certain values in her children. Values are the beliefs of a person or social group in which someone has a personal investment. As a part of Japanese culture superstitions are common and the idea of luck is an important part of their life. Japanese people believe that certain numbers are unlucky for example: 4 because it is also the word for death and 9 because it also is the word for suffering. They also believe that their luck is based on many things and that it can be actively changed.
In this story Kiyoshi’s mother used superstitions to teach her children lessons and to serve as a means of practical advice. She believed that “saving face” was important even if that meant pretending nothing was wrong. Kiyoshi’s mother used “saving face” as a way to control her family. To lose face was to risk exposure and shame. Kiyoshi’s mother told him repeatedly that poor families had to stay united and that to act on ones own was to be selfish. Her main concern was to keep the boys home until the family debt was paid off thus saving the families honor.
According to Japanese customs, the accepted or habitual practices followed by people of a particular group, family comes first. They believe in interdependence not independence. Interdependence stresses unspoken responsibilities inherent to acceptance and participation with-in the group. When the need arises the individual is expected to meet and honor these responsibilities. It is the duty of the children, particularly the sons to help support the family. Accepted norms for Japanese families during this time period were gender based, the father was the bread winner and the wife was responsible for the household, family life was not expected to interfere with the husbands’ life. Care for the aged was the families’ responsibility and the family determined its individuals life chances. These norms were present in Kiyoshi’s family. One more and especially important norm the Oyama family observed was the preserving of the family household resources that were to be handed down to the next generation, including all debts.
After looking at the Japanese culture that was present at the time of this story it is easier to see that Kiyoshi was living the life his family expected him to. It was his cultural duty to help the family as a whole, to share in the weight of the debt owed and to work to pay it off. If not Hawaii he would have been in the same situation in Japan. The working of the land was their way of life; the debt was the entire families until it was paid. Growing up Kiyoshi questions his parents, as children do, about why he couldn’t play with certain children, why he couldn’t stay in school and why his older brother couldn’t do what he wanted to with his life. He also understood his duty to the family and accepted, in a typical teenage way that he would do what the family needed. Kiyoshi loved his family.
When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor Kiyoshi questioned his values. Why had it been a sneak attack? He grew afraid that his loyalty would be questioned. This was a time when the importance of duty and “saving face” installed in him by his mother came into play with his individual character. Volunteering to go to war meant that he had earned the right to complain about his situation and participate in changing it. He had earned the right to a future. This might seem like an individual choice but it was also a choice that showed Japanese loyalty to the United States as a whole, for his group. However, with him he carried his family obligation the debt. When he found a way to pay the family debt I feel he turned his luck around. The irony of it all is that he had to go to war to do so.
With the information given about plantation life in Hawaii during this time period and a new understanding of Japanese culture it is easier to reconcile the story of Kiyoshi and his family. To not look at the fact that the children had to work to pay off a debt that was not theirs. The debt belonged to the family. Yes they lived in poverty and yes the children questioned their parent’s beliefs but so do many children today. “All I Asking For is My Body” is about family and culture, commitment and duty. It is a story that today’s reader can relate too.

All I Asking For is My Body, Part III, Dialogue

Week 16
All I Asking for My Body Dialogue


I liked the ending to the story. After all the sacrificing for family Kiyochan takes a step for himself when he volunteers to go to war. He sees it as the only way he will ever have any freedom. For him to then manufacture his own good luck by figuring out the odds with craps and win seems highly unlikely. However true to form he then sends the money home to pay off the family debt.
This debt started before his birth and grew out of family necessity. It consumed his mother, made his father feel like a failure and changed his brother’s life. These children were at the mercy of the plantation way of life. A life they could not change but had to accept. Their only other choice seemed to be no life at all. They were born into poverty and struggled just to “keep face” it was the fate of the entire family. There was no escape no way out. On page 88 of the text Kiyochan says, “It was like a prison term” he is referring to his plantation life. The cycle he and many others were caught up in. He was working for $2 a day, 6 days a week, eight hours a day and had nothing to show for it. I liked that at the end of the story he seemed to be escaping in some ways the irony of it was that escape he had to volunteer to go to war.

All I Asking For is My Body, Part II Dialogue

Week 15 dialogue
All I Asking For is My Body Part II


Kiyoshi’s mother has been ill before and now she is ill again. This makes Kiyoshi worry. While his father goes out fishing it is Kiyoshi’s job to look after his mother and the younger children. He has an older brother, but this is his job. Kiyoshi gets Obaban for his mother when she is doing poorly. Obaban tends to his mother and seems to be the only one who can lift her spirits. Kiyoshi’s mother is very superstitious and tells him how she is the one who brings bad luck to their family. She says that she feels she will die young. She also tells Kiyoshi that you could be punished if a close relative had done something bad, she could be a substitute and that might be why she feels so ill.
Obaban explains the concept of bachi to Kiyoshi. It is the punishment for doing something bad and getting away with it. She tells him that if his mother can find a substitute for her bad luck she might be freed from it. Soon after she visits Kiyoshi's mother Obaban dies and they all go to the service. Afterward Kiyoshi’s mother seems to feel better so Kiyoshi thinks that maybe Obaban was her substitute and now his own mother will be spared. While he did not want Obaban to die he wants his mother to live more.

Rules for Writers Chapter 37

Rules for Writers
Chapter 37: Quotation marks.

Quotation marks are another area where grammar checkers are not always helpful. Quotation marks are needed to enclose a direct quote. A writer can also set off a long quotation, for example poetry by indenting. Quotation marks are used around titles of short works, newspaper and magazine articles, poems, short stories, and songs, episodes of television and radio programs and chapters or subdivisions of books.
When using quotation marks periods and commas are placed inside the quotation marks as are colons, semicolons, questions marks and exclamation points.
After a formal quote is introduced a colon is appropriate. If a quotation is introduced by he said or she said or if it is at the beginning of a sentence a comma is needed.
Common misuses of quotation marks to be avoided include using them to draw attention to slang, indirect quotations or the title of your own essay.
Grammar and punctuation can turn a reader off when used incorrectly; your point can be lost entirely this way. These are things I still struggle with my writing.

All I Asking For is My Body Part I Dialouge

Makot is a boy who has to buy friendship. He has been made fun of by the boys his own age and so he befriends the younger boys. To help assure that they will be his friends he buys them treats and takes them to the movies. Makot also takes them to his house when his parents are not home and shares food with them. When the younger boys do not give in to his way of thinking Makot pouts until they do. He withholds the favors he gives them unless they go along with what he wants.
In the story Makot’s family is the only Japanese family that lives in the Filipino camp. His parents are not like the boys parents that he plays with. Makot’s father owned a Model T unlike any of the other Japanese dads and does not appear to work. He also never spoke to the children. Makot’s mother dressed in a kimono and wore white powder on her face and red paint on her cheeks. His mother worked all the time. Makot’s friend’s families will not say what is different about Makot’s family but they don’t want their children playing with him.
I think Makot brought his friends home when his parents were not home because he did not want them to meet. When Kiyoshi went to Makot’s house Makot pushed his mother inside not wanting her to talk to his friend. It was as if he was hiding something or was ashamed of his parents. I felt that he was somewhat of a bully to the younger boys. Maybe it was because of the way the older boys treated him. I did not feel sad for him he was able to use the younger boys to get what he needed.

Veterans Day

Veterans Day I am so proud of my dad and all the men and women who haved served, will serve and are serving to keep us free. This is a day for saying "Thank You" no matter how we feel about wars. Many of us have shared about our families in our writing so I wanted to share this with you too.

Essay Workshop 3

Smoke Signals Essay 3

To forgive someone is the process of letting go of resentment, indignation or anger as a result of a perceived offense, difference or mistake they have made without demanding punishment or restitution. We are taught as children to ask for forgiveness and to forgive those who have harmed us. It’s only when we forgive that we are able to receive forgiveness from ourselves and others. The question is who do we forgive and for what offenses? In “Smoke Signals” Victor travels a path to forgiveness. This path is filled with memories, regrets, realizations and forgiveness.
Memories are tricky things. They are colored by our perception of what occurred, what other people tell us happened and can change over time. Victor’s memories of his early childhood have shaped him into a young man filled with anger and a sense of being treated unfairly. As the story unfolds we find that Victor and Thomas remember their childhood differently. As Thomas and Victor start their journey Victor is filled with memories of his father. Thomas serves as a catalyst, sharing his own version of what he remembers. One of Victor’s first memories is of the fire that took the lives of Thomas’s parents. Thomas sees Victors father as the man who saved him, but Victor sees his father as the man that did not come back for him. It was after the fire that Victor remembers his father changing; he cut his hair and began leaving a little each day.
As the story unfolds Victor begins to remember things, snap shots of his childhood. One of these was a time he shared with his father laughing and teasing that ended with his father hitting him after he spilled beer in the truck. Another was the morning after watching his father and mother drinking when he threw all the remaining beer bottles at his father’s truck. As a young child Victor was fighting against the affects that living with a drinker can have on a child. He was losing faith in his father and becoming withdrawn.
Hurtful words can fill us with regret when we lose someone close to us. Words that are easily said in anger may linger for years causing family members to not bond with one another. Words are powerful things and can sometimes hurt us more than any physical injury. When a child lives with a parent or parents that have a drinking problem they see good times and bad times. Not knowing what to expect at any given time makes them become guarded. One memory that Victor had was of his father asking him who he looked up to. Victor did not answer, thus hurting not only his father but himself. When Victor’s father left the family, although disillusioned, his son pleaded with him not to go.
As the boys travel together Thomas reminds Victor that his father had been leaving for a long time, that he had wanted to disappear long before he actually drove away. As Victor grew older I think that he regretted not doing more with his father. He had let his anger over his father not saving him, but saving Thomas during the fire when they were children, interfere with their relationship. This perceived injustice became Victor’s way of dealing with the feelings he had for his father.
While he headed toward his fathers last residence Victor begins to realize that he has let his family situation color the way he looks at life. Growing up on the reservation where poverty and isolation was an everyday fact of life Victor had become hardened. He told Thomas that Indians needed to be stoic. That they needed to dress a certain way, wear their hair long and loose and look mean so that the white man would respect them. Victor’s mother was a giving woman who accepted help learned from others. After his father left she quit drinking and devoted herself to giving her son a better life. Thomas told Victor that he was unapproachable and that he had cut himself off from his mother long before they started the journey. When the boys started their trip Victor’s mother made him promise to come back to her. It was as if she agreed with Thomas.
After meeting Suzy Victor begins to have some insight into his father’s life. He discovered that his father regretted leaving his family and that he always intended to come back. Suzy told Victor that his father quit drinking and that he was a good and caring friend to her. Victor’s father had told her stories about his son always portraying him as a bigger character then he was. He was proud of his son. Suzy tells Victor that his father told her he had started the fire that took the lives of Thomas’s parents and it was the guilt over that that had made him drink more and leave his family. Suzy encourages Victor to look through his father’s trailer and find closure. When Victor finds an old family photo that his father kept with the word Home written on the back he cuts his own hair out of respect for his father, following the traditions of his culture, and burns down the trailer. Victor realizes that his father loved him and that it was not his fault that he left.
Smoke Signals is a story about the journey that Victor goes on which is filled with memories, regrets, realizations and forgiveness. The road trip that Victor and Thomas went on was a symbolic trip into Victors past. Thomas was a storyteller and through his stories he helped Victor reach out for memories of his father, who he was and what he meant to his son. To forgive an injustice we feel has been done to us is not an easy thing to do. It is, how ever something we need to do more for ourselves then for others. In Smoke Signals Victor needs to forgive his father for not being the one who saved him from the fire, for drinking too much, for hitting him and for leaving. When he is able to let these things go Victor remembers how much he loved his father and that he was loved in return.
With this journey Victor takes the first steps into a new part of his life releasing those old thoughts and hurts that he had carried with him for years. Victor finds the father he longed for and the ability to accept that he could not change things that happened when he was a child. As the journey ends Victor remembers his father, the good and bad things that happened in his childhood and he begins to understand his path. As he releases his father’s ashes into the river he also releases his anger and embraces his loss. At the end of the story Thomas ask, “when do we forgive our fathers and for what.” For Victor to forgive his father and to try to understand the man he was, gave him the opportunity to open his heart and live his own life.