Yet while Naomi understands and forgives her mother’s
desire to keep silent about the atrocities she saw and suffered,
in the end she seems to feel that the silence was not worth the
price. It is better to know all. Chapter 38,
a lyrical outpouring of emotion addressed primarily to Naomi’s mother
is characterized by Naomi’s longing to share her mother’s pain.
In the end, Naomi insists she feels a mystical connection to her
deceased mother, as if she is still present somehow. While this
is a comforting sensation, its pathos is a strong argument for truth
telling. Naomi must talk herself into feeling her mother’s presence,
because she has almost nothing else to go on. Hard facts, even the
most disturbing hard facts, are precious to her. She clings to photos
of her mother as if they are talismans, studying the buckles on
her shoes as if they have some deep meaning. We suspect that if
she knew more about her mother, if she had been in communication
with her while she was still alive, Naomi wouldn’t so desperately
need to insist that she can still communicate with her after her
death.
The novel ends on a hopeful note. Naomi doesn’t explicitly
or even implicitly rescind her earlier assertion that reliving the
past will not help prevent future atrocities. But nearly all of
the clippings and letters and other historical material included
in the narrative to this point have demonstrated the breathtaking
racism of Canadians. This final excerpt, in contrast, proves that
there were at least some Canadians who were outraged over their
country’s treatment of its citizens. The inclusion of this positive
excerpt represents a shift, however small, from cynicism about the
human capacity for evil toward acknowledgment that some people care
about, and fight against, injustice.
