All I Asking For Is My Body is showing how important it is for someone to have the freedom to decide for themselves. Like their tradition says, Toshio and Kiyoshi have to work give their earnings to their parents so they can pay off their debt. They can be considered slaves of their parents and they have to work for as many years as it takes to pay off the debt. Their father worked and devotedly handed over his money to their grandfather for twelve years. Toshio and Kiyoshi are expected to do the same as their father, but they’re just not as willing as their father and it seems understandable because they are younger and just want to experience their own freedom.
Working and paying for their parents debt is a tradition in the family but ultimately like the title says all they’re asking for is for their bodies, which really isn‘t a lot to ask for. Everyone should have that right to choose and like everyone Kiyoshi and Toshio want to be able to decide for themselves. They are told that they should work and they have to for as many years as it takes yet all they want is opportunities and choices that are not really available to them. And that’s just the way the tradition goes in the family and they don’t really have a choice and their bodies are all their asking for. They are supposed to keep on doing this until the debt is fully paid off.
Hi Hailey,
ReplyDeleteYour post has me thinking about the way concepts like "freedom" and "rights" are defined based on the customs and rules of a culture/society. There are several instances in the book where Mrs. Oyama emphasizes the communal. She explains that thinking about oneself is selfish; from her standpoint, the good of the group is more important than any one person. This notion of the collective counters the U.S. notions of freedom and individualism. We see Toshio and Kiyoshi negotiating these two very different systems.
Thanks for your insights.
Take care,
Lauren
Hi Hailey,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your insight you brought up a great point when is it tradition and not slavery? I think it is tradition when you want to follow those traditions like Kiyoshi wanted to do. I think it must have felt to Tosh like he was a slave. I like how you pointed this out I would have never thought about it that way. You are also right every one does have the right to choose what they do with their own body and life. So I am hoping that Tosh make the choose to live his own life in the end.
Thanks for sharing
Stacy
Hi Haliy,
ReplyDeleteI posted here before but don't see it so if you get two sorry.
I have to say that you gave me food for thought. I never thought Tosh and his brother or sisters as slaves until you wrote that. But that is just what they were and I bet because they call it honor or being a filial son that most kids would have never thought of it that way. But then you Tosh he new that that was not the life for him and that he did not deserve to have to give up his whole life to pay back a debit that was not his. I am so glad that he stood up for himself. I think that it was very good for his soul to fight for his body. I also love the fact that his brother was able to give him is physical body back by paying off the debit. Thank you so much for your insight.
Stacy Lambertz
Hello,
ReplyDeleteThere are many different traditions and cultures throughout the world but this story makes me appreciate my own culture. Being held back and unable to being your own person and make your own decision is constricting and sufficating. I dont think anyone deserves to be expected to work years to pay someone else's debt especially young persons that have their lives and future in front of them.
Thanks for sharing,
Mandy Ericson