37 pages • 1 hour read
Milton MurayamaAll I Asking for Is My Body
Milton MurayamaFiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1975A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 2Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 2: "The Substitute"
Part 2 Summary
It is 1934 and a couple of years have passed since Kiyo spent the summer playing with Makot. Kiyo’s father is not bringing in much money as a fisherman, so Kiyo’s mother makes handmade kimonos in their home. In the early part of the year, Kiyo’s mother becomes ill, and the domestic duties fall on Kiyo. While his mother is in the hospital, Kiyo comes home and cooks for his three younger sisters.
While sitting with his mother in her hospital room, she tells Kiyo of the family’s debt. She explains how she left Japan to marry Kiyo’s father and how the two of them worked for years to clear her father-in-law’s debt. Even though her mother-in-law treated her badly, Kiyo’s mother never complained.
The one person who had treated Kiyo’s mother well was Obaban. She is the aunt of Kiyo’s father, and she is the “black sheep” (17) of the family. Obaban had eloped during the mourning period of her father. When she was disowned, she and her husband left Japan for a new start in Hawaii and ended up settling in Kahana. Eventually, her brother, looking for his own fresh start, joined her in Hawaii.
Kiyo tells his mother he will go to Kahana and bring Obaban to her bedside. Kiyo’s mother does not want him to go to the expense, but he insists. Obaban immediately returns with Kiyo. On the cab ride, Kiyo explains that his mother believes she is dying because she has to pay for someone else’s bad deeds, what she calls bachi: “She believes she’s being punished as somebody else’s substitute” (20). Obaban explains, “It can work both ways […] [i]f she can find another substitute, then she’d be freed” (20).
The day after Obaban’s visit, Kiyo’s father comes to the school. Kiyo thinks that his father is there to tell him that his mother has died, but it is Obaban who has passed away. Kiyo feels guilt at the immense relief he feels. He believes that Obaban has sacrificed herself as his mother’s substitute, and now his mother will be released from bachi.
Kiyo watches as his mother mourns for her dear friend. While his father does not believe in bachi, both Kiyo and his mother know that Obaban saved his mother from an early death.
Part 2 Analysis
Kiyo’s father does not believe in bachi, or retribution. After moving to Hawaii, the Methodist Church service was the only thing to do on Sundays, so Kiyo’s father became a Methodist. His wife and children were later baptized in the faith, even though father isn’t the “faithful” type: “Father didn’t believe in Christianity any more than he did in Buddhism, but mother had grown up in the country steeped in all the superstitions” (21).
Father’s dismissal of “superstitions” has no effect on Kiyo’s mother, who accepts that she is being punished for the uncleared debts that she and her husband built up while providing for her father-in-law. According to superstition, mother should have cleared her debt before the New Year. Now that the New Year has passed and she is still unable to clear her debts, she feels that she will have to pay with her life.
Both Kiyo’s mother and Obaban believe in bachi, and trust that it is possible for one person to serve as the “substitute” for someone else’s retribution. When Obaban dies, Kiyo’s mother feels the physical release from her death sentence. Her belief in bachi is transmitted to Kiyo, who accepts that his great aunt died in his mother’s stead. This is collectivism in action. Obaban was an older woman and her children were grown, while Kiyo and his siblings still depend on their mother. Kiyo’s acceptance that Obaban sacrificed herself for the greater good of the family is in direct contrast to his identification with American individualistic values.
This idea of paying a price for the actions of another is amplified later in the story when the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor. Just as Mrs. Oyama felt that she was being sacrificed for the sins of another, Americans of Japanese descent were made to feel responsible for the actions of the Japanese government. Although their country had been attacked, they were treated as the aggressors. The randomness and unfair nature of bachi will be felt by the whole community.
Unlock all 37 pages of this Study GuidePlus, gain access to 8,800+ more expert-written Study Guides.
Including features: