The central idea behind this novel, I feel, is the sense of identity and belonging. To Fit-In with people around of us and not be “the other”. This novel is interesting because it is based on people nearly of our own age and it is set in Toronto.

The setting opens with the narrator talking about three friends on the subway early in the morning, a time when everyone is going to work and these young adults have had a long night. This on its own is an image of how these friends are different. Having been born and raised in Canada they are the second generation of immigrants but they still feel it is not so easy to be a part of the rest and cannot seem to adopt to the “regular Canadian life”. The setting opening at the subway is also a symbol of movement and how they are constantly in the race to fit in. The subway image can be taken in several ways, its a place of chance and opportunity. Canada being a multi cultural society, has still not accepted the young group of friends as “regular canadians” and we wonder what the reason for this could be. The parents of all these kids however try to enforce it on them to fit in and the children do not really hold their parents in high esteem. They are infact ashamed of them and feel like there are two different worlds. The kids feel that they are not a part of the required race and Tuyen believes it is impossible for them to fit in.

The group of friends is very close and they seem to share everything amoungst themselves except family and they all feel that the reason for this is that the family might be uninteresting. Truth is they are alienated from their families themselves and they just cannot wait to grow up and get out of their homes, a phase that almost every person of this age goes through. The theme of this novel is of belonging, and we can relate to the “us and them concept. The characters struggle to save what they love, but some broken things may never be made whole. And what we long for then may be freedom from the pain of caring.

We all have been looking forward to this reading week break, hoping to relax and get our mind off the excessive workload and midterm pressure we had before this. I am glad we got this opportunity so we can relax a bit and get back to the serious work ahead of us. Which includes our final exams and many of the major assignments for our courses this term. By now we are used to writing a lot and our works have improved significantly. I feel that the close reading assignment coming up will give us an opportunity to see where we stand now.

I would like to talk about Joseph Boyden’s “The Three Day Road” and the close reading assignment, in this blog posting. The entire novel is extremely interesting and there are so many different themes that it gets hard to decide what would be the best to pick. After much consideration I decided that I would emphasize on the end of the book. The reason for that is not only what we learn about friendship but also how it is so unexpected and plays a very important role in the novel. I now see the novel as a whole different story after reading the end. This shows us a lot about how important decisions change the lives of people, even though the intention may not be wrong but just one wrong decision here or there can completely change everything. The relationship between Elijah and Xavier, and how Xavier had to kill his own friend is a very important theme and it teaches us that in times of trial we should not forget what we really are.

Another important theme in this novel is the idea of elimination of the Aboriginal peoples. I feel this theme is important because Aboriginal Culture and issues is a major part of our CAP LAW AND SOCIETY.

I read about the Annual Women’s Memorial March that is held on the 14^th of February, which is also Valentine’s Day. I feel that this is necessary to remind us all about the mistreatment of the Aboriginal women, and women in general. It is heart rending to know that over 60 human beings have disappeared in that manner. This march honors those women and their families who never received justice even till now.

I’m sure everyone has plans for the reading week break and I hope they work out well and we all have a great time. I aim to work on this close reading assignment in the reading week, along with catching up on some of the history readings, and most of all relax so that the next couple of weeks, and the upcoming assignments go well.

I have read and seen many pieces of work that revolve around World War I. There are different perspectives, different stories, but at the end of it all I take away one common thing from them all. That one universal factor that makes these stories so alike yet so unique, is experience. Experience that protagonists, or in this case characters remember vividly, with so much attention to the details of things that happened. Three Day Road is a very interesting take on the War. I see it as a cultural definition of relationships formed and molded by time and place, by ethnicity and the drive to avoid steering away from cultural barriers. Even after the end of the war, it seems as though there is an ongoing conflict going on within Xavier and Nisaka. It is an epic story of the relationship between friends, between families. It shows how war can transform characters, or elevate certain immoralities as in the case of Elijah. His passion to kill, turning from enemies, to civilians and eventually to friends is a portrayal of the sad repercussions of war, of the mental state of soldiers, and the effect of drugs on one’s personality. The constant moral and cultural struggle within Xavier as he witnesses Elijah’s downfall while being associated with the same kind of liberties and surroundings is the true definition of a storm within. Which brings us to the question of the change in Xavier’s character throughout the novel, and why this change occurs in a person who could have had the same fate as his friend.

Contrary to what the question demands, I don’t really think Xavier changes much. We see him as a remorseful character, which is part of his moral code that links back to his upbringing and close connection to his cultural values. He feels bad about killing at war, regardless of his participation and evident role in the war. He does not compromise his beliefs over the advent of war, over the hatred for the enemy or in the company of someone like Elijah who we see keeps changing gradually, turning into “something that he’s not”. We do, however see some minor changes with regards to his morphine addiction and eventually losing faith in his ability to live after he returns to Nisaka. But with the help of her stories and motivation he fights to live, and that just proves that he is a man of strong character since the very beginning. As a child, he resisted to change when the nuns tried to eradicate the cultural values his family had, he stuck to speaking his own language and not believing the claims of evil lingering in the Cree heritage. As an adult, he resisted to becoming a war beast, he resisted to his drug addiction as he resisted to dying. Which clearly shows us that the resistance towards becoming someone else has been part of Xavier’s character all along. He has always been someone who cherishes where he came from and will do whatever it takes to keep that alive within him.

Margaret Atwood, in her novel The Handmaid’s Tale, talks about a distinct society in the state of Gilead. There are several themes that she brings up in the different chapters of the book, but the basic ideas remain the same. She is trying to show us where the world is going wrong, she has made her writing effective by the use of different tools of language at different instances. Atwood has quoted, (and mis-quoted), the bible, she has used puns at several places, and has not only mused language but also created neologisms. The already realistic events of this story have been made to look more authentic by the use of made up latin words, and references to the bible.

The themes include male-domination, suppression of women, discipline, inequality in society and other prevailing problems.

“Nolite te bastardes carborundorum”, which is made to sound like latin means; ‘don’t let the bastards get you down’. There are several other instances where Atwood has created words to give them more weight and make them not only believable, but worship-able by the helpless people of Gilead. This is just emphasizing on the fact that there is suppression and proving that the people are not allowed to learn or increase their knowledge.

Atwood has carefully used these tools to underline her main themes in a subtle manner. When we are reminded ‘Its the usual story, the usual stories, God to Adam; God to Noah: “Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth” (Genesis 1:28), this being a biblical reference is ironic because the practices of the government or the people of Gilead are not religious.

The significance of quotes like these is to show us that the government uses biblical references to their advantage, leaving the people helpless and speechless since they can not argue against something that is so holy. However the fact remains, that there may be other parts of the bible that contradict many famous quotes, which have been intentionally picked out of context to the benefit of several powerful groups or individuals.

Another instance where Atwood repeated that is the quote “Blessed be the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, blessed are the merciful, blessed are the meek, blessed are the silent”, and the response to that “They made it up“, here we see that the characters do not understand the real meaning which gives rebirth to the idea that women are oppressed and not allowed to read.

The idea behind Atwood adopting this is to make it believable, to prove that every instance is factual and has happened or is happening somewhere sometime.

Atwood has used her skills with language to her full advantage in this novel, enriching the themes and making it an interesting piece of writing!

Today I’m going to talk about how I feel about Canadian policies towards internationals. We have been hearing for a while now that Canada is a multicultural state and the people are very nice and welcoming, the Canadian government itself is being very lenient towards immigrants, but after reading Kogawa’s novel ‘Obasan’, we have second thoughts about this whole idea.

Who knows when Canada goes to war with our country and we are treated the same way?

The treatment of the immigrants, or even Canadian-born Japanese, in the 20th Century around World War II was wrong and the Canadian government still has to face the consequences of their act in the past.

We are aware that Obasan is fiction, but there is no doubt that it shows us the true facts about the relationship of the Canadian Government with the Japanese Canadians and the way the Japanese Canadians were treated. Canada did realize their mistakes and Mulroney did apologize to the effected for the way they had been treated and a financial compensation was also made, but it was considerably late.We can relate this to our reading and understanding of Van Peer’s article where he talks about literature leading to an escape from the encapsulated world, but really is it the same way in reality?

Literature does open us up to imagination and a free world, but can it be implemented in a situation like Kogawa’s?

The fact that this novel is not a biography but literature, might make some people feel like this maybe exagerated, but the true treatment was close enough to this piece of writing and we do understand the general concept and are able to place ourselves in the position of Kogawa and other Japanese-Canadians who faced hardship in the 20th century.

The question again is, Canada may have realized what they did was wrong but today in the 21st century if we see a time like that again, would they do the same, and after several years apologize?

Being an international student this is a great concern to all of us, because times may have changed but the nature of events will always remain the same.

Today I’m going to talk about how I feel about Canadian policies towards internationals. We have been hearing for a while now that Canada is a multicultural state and the people are very nice and welcoming, the Canadian government itself is being very lenient towards immigrants, but after reading Kogawa’s novel ‘Obasan’, we have second thoughts about this whole idea.

Who knows when Canada goes to war with our country and we are treated the same way?

The treatment of the immigrants, or even Canadian-born Japanese, in the 20th Century around World War II was wrong and the Canadian government still has to face the consequences of their act in the past.

We are aware that Obasan is fiction, but there is no doubt that it shows us the true facts about the relationship of the Canadian Government with the Japanese Canadians and the way the Japanese Canadians were treated. Canada did realize their mistakes and Mulroney did apologize to the effected for the way they had been treated and a financial compensation was also made, but it was considerably late.We can relate this to our reading and understanding of Van Peer’s article where he talks about literature leading to an escape from the encapsulated world, but really is it the same way in reality?

Literature does open us up to imagination and a free world, but can it be implemented in a situation like Kogawa’s?

The fact that this novel is not a biography but literature, might make some people feel like this maybe exagerated, but the true treatment was close enough to this piece of writing and we do understand the general concept and are able to place ourselves in the position of Kogawa and other Japanese-Canadians who faced hardship in the 20th century.

The question again is, Canada may have realized what they did was wrong but today in the 21st century if we see a time like that again, would they do the same, and after several years apologize?

Being an international student this is a great concern to all of us, because times may have changed but the nature of events will always remain the same.

Hey, this is my first blog ever.

Let me introduce myself to all my fans and followers. I’m Mohammad Ahmed Memon, from Pakistan, studying Arts at the University of British Columbia. I am planning on majoring in economics and am registered for the Law and Society CAP Stream.

Please leave your feedback about all my blog postings.