In the novel Obasan, the book touches upon a horrific event in Canada’s history that has never been fully resolved to this day. Obasan, by Joy Kogawa deals with the events of WWII in the battle in the pacific, between the United States, and Imperial Japan, and how Japanese Canadians were treated during these times of war. This book talks about a woman named Naomi who works as a teacher, however we are not told much about her as a person. However we know quite a lot about her family. Her family moved from Japan and immigrated to Canada on the West coast in British Columbia before the first Great War. Her mother had disappeared back to Japan to care for her Grandmother, so she lives with her aunt, or her obasan in Japanese. Sadly her uncle and father have passed away, and her brother travels the world and doesn’t get to see his family. While visiting her elderly aunt, she unlocks a trove of memories, a trove of memories best left forgotten, to prevent any more suffering. However, a wave of haunting memories from her past during and after WWII as to how she and other Japanese Canadians were treated as outcasts, as enemies.
Inside of the novel, the idea of belonging is a prominent underlying theme in the novel. That theme is the need to belong, and what drives that need. A big driver is the difficulty to feel accepted in a society where all of a sudden, you were portrayed as the enemy. Their family always says that first and foremost, they are Canadians. However there is one group for belonging, and that was with other Japanese Canadians who had also experienced the harshness of internment. The internment and displacement itself was a motive to reconnect and find a place in which they can belong, for example, Naomi and her family moved away to a host town named Slocan, separated from others. Finally, the last big driver toward the idea of belonging is family. During the novel, many people are separated, in Naomi’s case, her father was left behind due to his illness, and eventually he passed away. Although this theme may be hard to realize at first, it is an incredibly important message about connection.
Although I am only half way through the novel, Joy Kogawa describes the hardships faced by Japanese Canadians in its full entirety. Not hiding anything, and being cut and dry with the horrible things done. She shows the difficulty of belonging, and what drives that fundamental human emotion.
https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/391033/obasan-by-joy-kogawa/9780735233706
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/japanese-canadian-internment-wwii
Amir is a privileged Pashtun boy, the child of a wealthy man who is referred to as Baba throughout the book. Hassan is from the Hazara cultural group and is the son of Baba’s servant, Ali. The Hazaras are an ethnic group marginalized in their society as they look different from the Pashtuns. The story starts in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 1963. The novel is about the complicated relationship between the two boys, which is tested by expectations created by society, envy, and a traumatic event that influences their lives. The book explores the themes of guilt, redemption, loyalty, family dynamics, and the influence of personal decisions on one’s future.
The death of his mother weighs heavy on Amir, as he lacks a mother figure in his life. Moreover, he feels a sense of guilt as he believes his mother would still be alive if she didn’t give birth to him. Amir was raised by his father, who was emotionally unavailable for most of Amir’s life as he created emotional distance from his son due to his wife’s death. Baba was a hard-working man who proved his critics wrong by achieving everything he said he would. He became wealthy and surrounded himself with upper-class people. Baba is an influential and traditional figure who expects Amir to live up to the Pashtun ideas of bravery and strength. However, in the story, Amir is nothing like his father, which upsets Baba as he worries that Amir will not be able to stand up for himself and will never become a true man. Instead, Amir is described as a gentle character who likes to keep to himself. Amir desperately desires to be seen as worthy in his father’s eyes, so he constantly tries to prove his worth to his father to win approval and appreciation. Furthermore, Amir has a gift for writing. 
He tries to impress his father by showcasing his literary work, but Baba wants Amir to play soccer or games with the other children instead and act as an average child would. Due to this tension, Baba ushers Amir away and diverts his attention to Hassan. After yearning for his father’s approval, Amir grows jealous of Hassan and Baba’s relationship over time. Their connection leads Amir to work even harder to win his father’s love so he can feel the sense of belonging he has always wished for. Baba cares about Hassan because he has recognizable moral qualities and is seen as a family member, as Baba’s parents adopted Ali. Baba also favors Hassan over Amir because his moral virtues of loyalty, bravery, and integrity stand out to him, which Amir lacks. Baba’s love for Hassan reflects the purity of heart and character Hassan possesses. Hassan and Baba’s relationship influences Hassan and Amir’s friendship as Amir finds ways to prank Hassan by teaching him English words that disrespect Hassan. But Hassan is uneducated, so he stays faithful to Amir and follows all expectations to fulfill their friendship. Cultural expectations influence Amir and Hassan’s friendship. As mentioned before, Amir and Hassan are from different castes, which causes a source of conflict and guilt for Amir. Amir is expected to follow certain societal norms and expectations. 
As Amir is seen as superior in caste, his friendship with Hassan contradicts societal standards and complicates Amir’s feeling of belonging in society. When Amir betrays Hassan, Amir lives with guilt for the rest of his life. The main reason for his guilt is that Hassan was loyal to Amir despite any circumstances. The author portrays this loyalty by telling the reader that Hassan’s first word was Amir’s name. To overcome this guilt, Amir looks for a sense of belonging in his morals and personal living standards that he avoided when he decided not to help Hassan many years ago. 
A sense of belonging can be present in society, relationships, and one’s internal morals. The sense of belonging is evident in the character Amir as he represents the human condition of wanting to achieve a sense of belonging in all aspects of one’s life. Amir’s character is influenced by Baba’s approval, cultural and societal expectations, living to his fundamental morals, and feelings of guilt, which all drive his desire to belong.