It felt fitting to me that Chico would mention carceral studies on Friday. I’ve been turning two ideas around in my head lately: Islands, and passages.

Foucault coined the term “carceral archipelago” to describe the expansive reach of state control over many aspects of people’s lives. After reading Ozeki, I’m seeing islands everywhere in my own life. Just like there are many kinds of incarceration, there are also many kinds of islands. Ruth and Nao are both geographically isolated on their individual islands, in many ways displaced from “home” (wherever/whatever that is). The diary acts as a bridge or passage between islands, physical and temporal. Passage as in text, as in rite of passage (Nao and Ruth’s), as in the passage of time, as in passing from one place to the next. The diary is also a passage to the reader, both Ruth and the person reading A Tale For The Time Being.