The novel Obasan deals with the mass paranoia that was present in Canada during the Second World War. Joy Kogawa questions how it was possible for this paranoia to escalate to a level where Canadian citizens were expelled from their homes. One of the more interesting parts of the book was where the main character Naomi wonders why the Japanese are being treated so much different from German immigrants despite the fact that Canada was at war with the Germans as well. Historically the Japanese immigrants had done very well for themselves finically in Canada, this is demonstrated by Naomi’s family home in an affluent area of Vancouver. Many of European immigrants resented this especially the fisherman. This is one of the reasons why it was so easy for the government to turn the people against them. Many Canadians also bore resentment because the Japanese did not leave their culture behind when they left Japan, and many people felt that if you were to live in Canada then you must be what they defined as “Canadian”. Speaking from personal experience my grandparents were Dutch immigrants they made a conscious effort to not teach their children any cultural traditions or raise them bilingually. This case is not unique to my family many other immigrants gave up their ethnic identity when they came to Canada because they believed it would be easier for their children to assimilate into Canadian society. This relates to Van Peers article where he makes the argument that by possessing a cultural identity you are automatically excluding large groups of people. Therefore the Japanese not only looked different from the European immigrants they also had a different culture which lead to exclusion from the rest of Canadian society. Another reason that the Japanese were targeted was because the threat from them seemed more real as the Japanese had bombed the Vancouver coast as well as other points in North America. This made the war seem more immediate the Canadian people opposed to some far off conflict in Europe. Despite the fact that the Japanese were allies of the Germans, Germany had made no direct attack on North America. This attack on our home soil created fear and paranoia that was widespread throughout Canada, and the people needed assurance that the government would keep them safe.  So in a political move they made all Japanese Canadians the enemy in order to satisfy the populace. This proves the power of the individual as redressing only occurred after books like Obasan were written and the Canadian citizens pushed the government to make amends. This proves both Nussbaum and Van Peers argument that Literature can bring about change and progress.