Forgiveness : A
Gift from My Grandparents
By Mark Sakamoto
Tansley
Reads Score: 68.71%
Icebreaker
If you could only take 150 lbs
of personal effects and survival items with you, what would you find the most
difficult item or items to leave behind?
Questions
1. How do you think you would react if you
were suddenly uprooted by the government with little help? Would you be as accepting/forgiving as the
Japanese community seemed to be?
2. Japanese culture emphasizes respect for those in
authority, stoicism in the face of adversity and pain, not making a fuss or
creating a scene which would embarrass your family or ancestors, working hard
at every task so as to make those around you proud. On p. 96, Mitsue’s father
voices this influence when he says “shikata-ga-nai – it can’t be helped” when
faced with the decision of the family leaving to go to work the Alberta beet
fields.
How did these cultural norms
affect the decisions and demeanor of the Japanese in Canada during the war
years?
3. As in
the question above, the phrase Shikata-ga-nai is generally translated to mean
“It can’t be helped. Stuff happens. It’s how you deal with it (the stuff) that
makes your life.” Which character for you best handled “the stuff” in their
life?
4. When
Mark Sakamoto first interviewed his 90-year-old grandmother about her
experience, he asked why she had never talked about it before. She replied,
“Because hate can come back”. She was afraid to acknowledge it by speaking of
it. How do you feel about this? Can hate come back if you speak of it?
5. “Forgiveness is moving on. It is a daily
act that looks forward. Forgiveness smiles... Forgiveness is not a transaction.
It is not an exchange. Forgiveness has nothing to do with the past” (p. 237). Who is seeking forgiveness in this book? Who
is forgiven?
6. Why do you think Mitsue and Ralph became
“instant friends” (pg. 182)?
7. Which generation of characters most resonated
with you?
8. What
revelation in this story did you find the most surprising or interesting?
9. What
does racism look like, sound like and feel like in the communities we live in
today?
10. Ralph
avoids solitude because it makes it too easy to think about his time in
captivity. Mitsue, meanwhile, experiences isolation in the form of segregation
when she and fellow Japanese‐Canadians from Vancouver, are rounded up and
dispersed— losing the sense of community they’d shared. In today’s society, how
do certain groups of people face increased isolation?
11. There
are a number of instances of the Canadian Government issuing apologies to
different groups for injustices inflicted on them in the past e.g. First
Nations, Home Children from England, Japanese Canadians, a boatload of Jews
fleeing the Nazis being refused entry to Canada during WWII. Do these apologies make it easier for
citizens to forgive? Are they meaningful?
12. Did the fact that events in this memoir were
written about Canadians and happened in Canada affect your feelings about the
book?
13. Quick round: What did you think of the book?
Is there anything you want to discuss that we missed?
