Content Warning for death, suicide, sexual assault, bullying, and violence

Spoilers for A Tale For The Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

Loss is a pretty big theme through out the book, and in the end finding/coming to terms with things lost is  major. The main things that are lost are: home, identity, loved one, purpose, time and reality. Both Nao and Ruth are sad about leaving places they love, because it’s where they felt alive. While Ruth at the end tells Oliver that she happy on the island despite her complaining about all through the book. Nao on the other hand felt better about Japan after going to Jiko’s temple but according to Haruki #2′s email she feels at home in Montreal. This loss of home effects both character’s loss in identity. Nao is confused with being Japanese but feeling American (thus being Japanese/American) and her loss of identity happens because her connections to America are disappearing at the same time that new ones aren’t being made in Japan. For Ruth she felt her identity as a writer was lost, and that her identity as a Japanese/American wasn’t being acknowledged by Oliver or her neighbors. We can speculate that Nao and Ruth both came to terms with their identities or found them because we know that Nao is doing well but maybe now she feels more Japanese/Canadian? and Ruth I’m assuming found her identity as a write because the book is out, but she feels better about racial identity by having her fellow islanders and husband slowly acknowledge why the dairy is so important to her. Their loved ones that either have passed or have gone M.I.A. mentally/physically for periods in the story are found or they have accepted that while they might not be physically with them they will always be there in memory. This is seen in Nao writing about Haruki #2 through his suicidal period and Ruth constantly remembering Masako. Along with Ruth feeling like she’s not a writer any more in an identity sense she also feels that way in her purpose. In the beginning of the novel Ruth stats that she’s been having trouble concentrating on her writing and that she’s not sure about her memoir any more. While that doesn’t really change, at least for the time being (I really had to say it!), in Ruth’s final chapter she has a better sense about where she’s at with her writing and who knows maybe is some parallel world she did complete that work and never felt lost as a writer. Nao not only loses her sense of purpose as a student but also as a daughter, Both of which she finds after Jiko’s death and reading Haruki #1′s secret dairy. Now I can go into the loss of time, but I’m not going to. However the part I found most interesting in the novel was the loss of reality because I found some comfort in that it seemed to happen with most of the characters, and it’s the one item that you’re not sure if it’s ever really found. Loss of reality can be greatly interpreted but for simplicity sake lets assume that all the super natural things that go on are the characters losing their grasp on reality. There’s Nao thinking she’s becoming a ghost, seeing Haruki #1′s ghost, Ruth losing the words and then her dreams of Jiko and Haruki #2. Nao comes to terms with her ghost experiences through Obon and the validation of ikisudama being a belief in Japan. Ruth comes to terms with her dreams and Nao’s dairy changing through Oliver explaining quantum information.

Content Warning for death, suicide, sexual assault, bullying, and violence

Spoilers for A Tale For The Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

As a whole this book questions binaries, in particular Life and Death. To most it’s a simple as that you’re either alive or you’re dead. Ruth Ozeki challenges that “either or”by have living people be dead and having dead people be alive.

Jiko (Nao’s Great Grandmother): In the start Jiko is still alive but when she dies, she doesn’t really check out. She has some works out there from her anacrchist feminist days and for her final written word. She’ll be remembered by Nao and Haruki #2 because she told them and helped them live. She’ll be remembered by Muji because Jiko was her mentor and friend. She’ll even be remembered every Obon. So while is dead, she is still very much alive.

Haruki #1 (Nao’s Great Uncle): Haruki was dead when Nao had started writing, but his ghost made an appearance. Even talked to Nao for a bit. And no one can deny that his letters and diary are very much alive. There is extreme emotion and thought put into both works which brings them to life.

Masako (Ruth’s Mother): She too is dead in the beginning of the book and comes back to Ruth through memory. However towards the end of Masako life due to her Alzheimer she was alive but not really checked into the world, she was there but not present.

Haruki #2 (Nao’s Father): In his character Ozeki shows that you can be alive but dead. While he is still living, he has already checked out of the world.  All he wants to do is to make it complete by killing himself.

History: Through the book Ruth and Nao are constantly concerned with past events, like World War II, the ijime, the tsunami, moving away from America, etc. History is alive when it happens, in the now. It dies when forgotten and those events are past, but it stays with the world through being retold, remembered and through the way it shapes and effects the future.

Content Warning for death, suicide, sexual assault, bullying, and violence

Spoilers for A Tale For The Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

I first would like to start out these posts by talking about the relationship between the work and the reader as in Nao reading her Great Uncle’s letters and diary, Ruth reading Nao’s diary and me reading A Tale For The Time Being. The last one because I am a time being and I strongly related to this novel. Obviously this novel deals with some very intense subjects and while in the interview Ruth Ozeki mentioned that her reasoning for that is because bullying but more specifically cyber bullying is a real concern for her. I feel however that another reason for these topics or even the way the novel is written is due to Ruth wanting to  make the magic that happens even more magical. I don’t think it’s possible to read this novel and not have any magic happen.

In the first level of this magic is Nao/us reading her Great Uncle’s, Haruki #1, last words. Nao is clearly interested in them because he was a Kamikaze Pilot and later because he had experienced bullying from his officers, which are both things that are playing a big role in her life due to both her father, Haruki #2 and herself having suicidal thoughts, and her own bullying from her classmates and teacher.

Then, in the second level you have Ruth/us/Oliver reading Nao’s “last” words. Ruth’s concern for Nao is not only because of the Tsunami and Naos suicidal talk but also because Ruth can relate to Naos feelings of loss in identity, of a parent, and home (I talk more about this in Theme Three: Lost and Found).

Lastly,in the third level there is Us reading this novel. Now I can only speak for myself in this regards because I don’t have a mind reading superpower, but as I mentioned before I really related to this novel. And even as I’m writing this after debating about it for a bit I’m not sure how personal I’d like to get here, so we’ll see what happens, maybe there will be some magic going on between us as well. When it came to Ruth I understood her getting so wrapped up in Nao’s dairy, as my first Rock post is evidence that I get absorbed into things, even my Hello Kitei page shows I love reading and it overwhelms me all the time. When Ruth loses her grasp on time and reality I feel that as well. I would say though that Nao is the character I understand. I’ve had both a parent and a sibling who have wanted/want to check out of time early and there are times I’m right behind them. I’ve faced bullying (not nearly to Nao’s extent), have had my sexual boundaries crossed, have been in violent situations more times than I can remember, and have had huge body image issues. So for me the magic happened upon reading this novel was equally pleasant and a nightmare.

I would also like to relate this theme to “Easy A” for the last few seconds I have of you’re time since this is a popular culture class. In the film, Emma Stone says something along the lines that the books you read always have some connection to whats going on in your life. And for me that’s best part of the magic that happens.

I enjoyed this film because while it does have a white savior thing (purposefully not say complex) going for it, the movie explains and explores why Walt Kowalski is playing that role. Overall Walt is concerned with the younger generations lack of respect for the older and that he recognizes Sue as his neighbor. Once he gets to know them though his saving them is because he has grown to care about them. The last time Walt does his ‘saving’ act, I’ll admit that I was upset that he saved the day at first. Now however I look at differently, Walt clearly knew that his actions were behind the house shooting and what was done to Sue. So in a way instead of saving the day he is really holding himself accountable, and if his last words aren’t anything to go by is atoning for his actions.

Before I go into the strong reasons I see this movie being a good choice of for our program, I want to talk about the two things I love the most about this film. First is the women, I didn’t see one woman in the film that was passive in both the Hmong and white (dead and alive) women. Second is Walt’s character. Even though he is a racist angry old man in the beginning and somewhat in the end, his character shows that it’s never to old to not only change your opinions but it’s also okay to acknowledge your faults and wrongs.

Now on to move relevant observations. This film obviously focuses on Hmong people, which before this film I’d never heard about before, so that was cool. When Sue is talking to Walt about it the first time she says that their not a country but a people and that they came to the U.S. because of the aftermath of the Vietnam War and the U.S. leaving them high and dry when they left Vietnam causing the Vietnamese to attack them due to the Hmong supporting the U.S.. I feel that that one remark speaks loads. The part about Hmong being a people and not a country I feel speaks to the way that race has been in part constructed/validated through countries. Then the part of the Vietnam War really points out that a lot of immigrant populations that come to the U.S. are coming for refuge from conditions and situations that the U.S. has played a part in causing.

Overall however I think this movie really shows that there is more to people than the surface. Sue is constantly is voicing that, but even the other characters show a much deeper side than what they first thought of one another.

I loved this movie although it was a little difficult to watch at times. It was interesting to watch the film four years later after I read this novel my senior year of high school. I noticed that I did not make nearly as many connections after watching the film in class with what I have learned over the course of the past two quarters. I noticed the evolution of my thought process over the past few years.

All of the stories shared throughout the movie about the conflicts between several Chinese immigrant mothers and their American-raised daughters played a vital role to the make up of the variety of themes in the film and were key to the overall importance of the film. More specifically, I really thought Jing-mei’s character was essential in completing the entire story and brought each of the characters closer in a sense while at the same time discovering that they were able to make a change in their lives as the end of the film approached. It was interesting to see a younger generation teach a lesson to a group of an older generation of women while they were in fact helping her recollect the memory of her mother as well. The story reminded me of the recurring themes of generational and cultural gaps that we have seen these past two quarters in the variety of films, writings/poetry, and readings.

Jing-mei’s role was very important throughout the story. Although she fears that she cannot adequately portray her mother’s life, it is evident that her mother’s (Suyuan) story pervades through the voice of Jing-mei. Her mother’s story represents the struggle to maintain the mother-daughter bond across cultural and generational gaps. By telling this story as her mother’s daughter, Jing-mei enacts and cements the bond that is the subject of Suyuan’s story. Once Jing-mei finally travels to China in hopes of helping to find her half-sisters and to share the story of a mother who they do not remember, she ends up forging two other mother-daughter bonds as well. Her journey represents a reconciliation between Suyuan’s two lives, between two cultures, and between mother and daughter. Fortunately, this allows Jing-mei to bring closure and resolution to her mother’s story, and to her own life as well. In addition, the journey brings hope to the other members of the Joy Luck Club that they can also reunite the oppositions in their lives between past and present, between cultures, and between generations.

I really liked The Black Kung Fu Experience. It really made me think about the intercultural transmission that happens in the United States that you rarely see in other nations.

I also found it interesting that Shaolin Ulysses made such a strong link between Shaolin kung fu and Buddhism. I was not aware of that at all.