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Obasan . . . does not dance to the multicultural piper’s tune or respond to the racist’s slur. She remains in a silent territory, defined by her serving hands. She serves us now, pouring tea into Mr. Barker’s cup. She is unable to see and stops halfway before the cup is full.

Naomi views Obasan’s attitude with a complicated mixture of admiration, frustration, and sadness. The first sentence of this passage implies that Obasan’s silence and refusal to participate in the world make her superior to the anxious Japanese Canadians who worry about multiculturalism and react in some way to racism, whether with fury, annoyance, or amusement. These Japanese Canadians may be engaged with their society, but the phrase “dance to the multicultural piper’s tune” suggests that they are little better than robots, leaping around like the children bewitched by the Pied Piper. The next sentence, however, reverses the idea that Obasan’s remove is desirable. She is “defined by her serving hands,” a clear statement that her entire identity is wrapped up in waiting on other people. If you always think of the other people’s needs before your own, Naomi suggests, you doom yourself to a life of servitude. The phrase “silent territory” is double-edged. Obasan can’t or won’t hear the jibes of the racists around her, which keeps her safe from them, but equally, she can’t communicate with the people around her. Failing to hear protects her, but failing to speak isolates her.

The last line of the passage (which is also the last line of the chapter) may be a sly tweak of Naomi herself. Obasan is waiting on Mr. Barker, the man who once employed her and treated her little better than he would a dog. Outwardly, she is all politeness, but several small details undercut her welcoming appearance. She serves the tea in greasy cups that appall Mrs. Barker. She works in silence, consciously or unconsciously emphasizing the old master-servant relationship in a way that surely makes the newly PC Mr. Barker feel uncomfortable. And in this last line, she fails to give Mr. Barker a full cup of tea. The joke may be on Naomi. She thinks she knows her aunt inside and out, but perhaps Obasan is capable of her own tiny acts of insubordination now and again.

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