Kira-kira

Kira-kira, meaning glittering, was how Katie Takeshima’s sister, Lynn made everything seen. The optimistic attitude of Lynn influenced the way Katie dealt with things, making Katie admire Lynn from the bottom of her heart. Longing for their own house, the sisters had a goal which forced them to keep going on in pain of life. Under Cynthia Kodahata’s pen, I found not only the simplicity and effort of the Takeshima family but also the problem of racial prejudice in the early 1950s.

The story was narrated by and spindled with a Japanese-American girl, Katie, and it took place before her age of twelve. In Katie’s mind, Lynn is a prefect girl. Originally, the Takeshima family ran a small Oriental foods grocery store. However, because of the environment, Katie and her family moved from a Japanese community in Iowa to the Deep South of Georgia, and it was Lynn who explained to her why people stopped on the street to stare. Though there were thirty-one Japanese in the town, they suffered odd and supplanted eye. Afterward, a number of bad events continually closed in, proving how tragic Japanese-Americans lived in the oppressive reality. Worst of all, Katie’s sister, Lynn, died of lymphoma in the end. But to her family, her optimism lived on forever.

Prejudice is an under lying theme in this novel. The nonwhite got raw deals in their life. For instance, because of the development of the America over two hundred years, mean and low jobs were mainly for nonwhite, despite their vocational technique and ability. “Have you noticed that Mom’s and Dad’s friends are all Japanese?” The simple words Lynn had said stirred my heart. This didn’t mean they were only willing to contact Japanese. Under the discrimination, they had no choice but to rely on people who had the same culture. “Her eyes were deep and black, like mine.” From the above sentence, we can see the obvious difference of appearance between Katie’s and the white’s. The difference in frames causes the first division, resulting the opposite relation with social rejection come into being. Furthermore, how children act and the discriminatory behavior would be influenced by their parents. I consider that is why Katie is unwelcome in school.

Thankfully, the prejudice didn’t plant in every heart of the white. Like Katie’s classmate, Amber, Silly, who Katie met in the poultry hatchery, and Hank, they took crucial parts in the story, proving there were still few white who didn’t treat nonwhite as dirt. However, they were minority, and it didn’t mean that the Japanese completely fit in the society. To my surprise, Katie’s father, a man of good temper, destroyed his boss’ car. This is consequence accumulated for a long time.

Though this book, we can see every aspect of the environment and living then. The author uses plain language to show us the honesty and sincerity of the Takeshima family. Also, she implies the serious problem of racial discrimination. Finishing the novel, I thought if I went to a place where I disconnect with my race, I might not lead a happy life as Katie, and I might be struck by the local culture. It is difficult to live in a foreign country, let alone with the encounter of the relative’s death. I asked myself: Can I stand out to take my family to beat the sorrow and get back to reality? The pluralistic society nowadays is gradually opening. Can we break through the difficulty and face every next day with our heart? I can’t admire Lynn more. She who had her special way of viewing the world, teaches Katie to look beyond tomorrow, and also to take us to look upon the world as a place that glitters, as a place where the calls of the crickets, crows, and the wind are everyday occurrences that also happen to be magic.