How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
The house is indeed old, as she is also old. Every homemade piece of furniture, each pot holder and paper doily is a link in her lifeline. [...]They rest in the corners like parts of her body, hair cells, skin tissues, tiny specks of memory. This house is now her blood and bones. (3.50)
We kind of feel like Obasan should be on an episode of Hoarders. Why do you think Obasan's home has become such a large part of her identity?
Quote #2
All our ordinary stories are changed in time, altered as much by the present as the present is shaped by the past. Potent and pervasive as a prairie dust storm, memories and dreams seep and mingle through cracks, settling on furniture and into upholstery. Our attics and living rooms encroach on each other, deep into their invisible places. (5.23)
Earlier, Naomi says that the home is just like Obasan's body. Now she compares to her mind to a home and its attic. At the same time she foreshadows the family's exile to Granton, where they live in the house coated in dust.
Quote #3
"Tell me what happened to my mother's tiny house—the house where my sister was born, with the rock garden in front and the waterfall and goldfish. Tell me what has happened." (7.55)
This quote is from a letter that Aunt Emily sends to the Canadian government asking about her home. There is basically no answer. We wouldn't be surprised if many people in real life were asking these questions, since many Japanese Canadians had their homes taken away from them with no explanation.