In Joy Kogawa’s novel, Obasan, the main character Naomi remembers her bitter childhood, consisting of racism, sexual abuse and discrimination. Although she doesn’t want to remember the past, she can’t help but to revisit her worst nightmares, as she was encouraged by her uncle’s passing, Aunt Emily’s journal and spending time at her old house. Naomi experiences instances of reverence, bitterness, and longing. Naomi shows reverence towards Obasan for how she’s there for her. She looks up to Obasan because when she was young her mother and her father was also missing from her childhood and she was the only parent figure Naomi had.
She also shows bitterness to the discrimination and racism that was shown to her family. They were forced to move