The Buddha In the Attic novel by Julie Otsuka - Assignment Example

The Buddha in the Attic The Buddha in the Attic Julie Otsuka narrates the story of Japanese women in her book The Buddha inthe Attic, which exemplifies the woman’s collective struggles through the women’s dreams, disappointments, hope, and end of pursuit. Dream It is in the woman’s collective struggle to dream but many experiences of life stifle the dream. The reason why the Japanese women boarded the ship to America was to pursue the dream of getting married to Americans. In their thoughts, America was better than Japan because there were stories that the women in America did not tend fields and there was enough food there (Otsuka, 2012).

It is clear that life in Japan had not been bearable and the women were justified to dream of how to change their conditions and attempt to achieve this dream. However, their journey, the express show of working towards their dream, took the women through dirt, dim light, nightmares, and anxiety. Disappointment Like any other human being who works towards achieving his or her dreams, it is normal that it does not always feel as expected when the woman peeps at what she has been working tirelessly.

Upon docking, the Japanese women are shocked to see their husbands-to-be. The photographs they carried with them depicted the men waiting for them at the dock but they were younger (Otsuka, 2012). The men also looked less handsome than in the photographs. Their reaction upon seeing the men shows that professionals had taken the photographs and experienced experts wrote the letters in order to entice the women across the sea. The disappointment on the women could not be concealed and worsened the women’s struggle, psychologically.

Hope Even though the dream does not turn out to be what the women expected, they live on. The consummation of the marriages was an indication of the Japanese women starting life in America. For some, the consummation happened in good hotels but for some, the experience was dreadful. They had to make-do with their tent-houses, wooden shanties, old washhouses and deserted schoolhouses (Otsuka, 2012). Shouting became the only way to get water and save them from fainting while working in the fields.

Giving birth and racism punctuated the women’s immigrant life. The women had to work hard to survive as nothing came on a silver platter anymore. Those who did not harden enough for life died. The end of the pursuit Sometimes the end of the pursuit of the woman’s dream is abrupt. Such an end comes to cut-short the hope of a settled and peaceful life. In The Buddha in the Attic, this end came unexpectedly after an order was issued to intern the Japanese. The Japanese were uprooted forcefully from their livelihoods.

Their children had grown up used to the life in America. Interestingly, the end gives the woman an identity. This is the reason why Otsuka had to wait until the end of the novel when the Japanese are being deposed to name her characters. There was Iyo, Kimiko, Haruko and others (Otsuka, 2012). Individualization is commonly the last point in every person’s life, including the women’s experience. In conclusion, the woman’s collective struggle consists of dreams, disappointment, hope, and cut-short dreams and all these are evident in the experiences of the Japanese women characters in The Buddha in the Attic.

Reference Otsuka, J. (2012). The buddha in the attic. London: Fig Tree.