The story takes place in Pepelau, Hawaii. The Narrator is Kiyoshi Oyama. He is
younger than Mokoto who hangs out with younger boys, and he is a fourth grader
who enjoys doing activites in the summer even when he doesn't have that much
money. He lived in a Japanese Camp with his parents and brother and sister. His
father was a fisherman and his mother sewed kimonos so even thought they didn't
have a lot of money they always had something to eat, because his father always
brought home the best of fish even though they sometimes got sick of eating the
same thing every day.
Kiyoshi met Makot at the beach who soon became their gang leader and did
everything Makot told them to do but he treated them very well. Because Makot
always had a lot of money he would take them to the movies and buy them ice
cream and always had fun activities to do until Kiyoshi's parents found out he was
always at Makots. His parents were concerned with how other people thought about
them and they told Kiyoshi he was no longer aloud to eat and play over there
because it would look like they couldn't afford their own food and because his
parents thought that Makot was a bad influene.
Hi Hailey,
ReplyDeleteIn part 1, we understand the dynamics of the Oyama family and we learn what's important to them. It matters to Mr. and Mrs. Oyama that their son is socializing with Makoto and eating food bought by his parents. It's shameful to them and they wouldn't want the neighbors to talk. One of the questions we'll ask in this text is the line between shame that is healthy and unhealthy. As we continue reading, we'll see that there are many instances where the parents are trying to "save face."
Thanks for your ideas.
Take care,
Lauren
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI understand that Kiyoshi's parents were trying to protect him from harms way, but I was not happy when they would not tell him why exactly. That was one of my pet peeves with my parents when they would not specify why I could not do something or hang out with someone they would just say "because I said so and that's that!"
I'm sure we will get to learn a little more of Makot's background and who his parents are and how they could play a role in degrading the Oyamas's if Kiyo were to continue hanging out with Makot.
Even though it is not clearly presented what Makot parents does for living in the first chapter of this book, it is clear that authors parents believe that his parents are not respectful family and prevents author to spend time with Makot. I believe that even though author’s family is poor they are proud and people who have self-respect as they don’t want their son to eat at someone else place everyday. Japanese culture and my native culture have got quite lot similarities. One similarity author’s parents showed is beating their children which is not common in most of the culture.
ReplyDeleteHi Hailey - I am looking forward to finding out why Kiyoshi's parents don't want him to be friends with Makoto anymore. I believe it may have something to do with the different cultural beliefs. Kiyoshi's parents are worried what other people will say about their son eating over at Makoto's house everyday.
ReplyDeleteI am also interested in finding out what Makoto's parents do for a living. Makoto always had an adequate amount of money, but Kiyoshi mentioned that Makoto's father is never seen working.
Thank you,
Sarah Baker
I like your insights about part I in this book. There is so much going on with Kiyoshi and his parents not wanting him to be apart of Makoto's life anymroe. I can understand why this is because Makoto is nothing but trouble. But it is going to be very interesting to see what happens next between the two. Thank you for the insights.
ReplyDeleteJarrod