The title of the book might be one of the best clues as to what is taking place in this historical novel. The "Pale" refereeing to might be explained as a distant or foggy "view." Combined with the term "Hills," which might refer to a the main narrator in the book, Etsuko the Japanese lady who is living in England now. Her "pale" memories seem to drift back to the bombing and the losses it caused by various other characters in the story.

The consistent examples of the Japanese politeness seems another reminder of a ay of a life taken away, or rather the life of a culture has been dismantled by not only the bomb but the loss of the war, which has led to the Japanese people being led to or they are following a new way of life. Some of the characters in the book seem to be fighting the change but it is a battle they will not win.

The pain of a people's loss of that same culture is exemplified when Ogata-San complains of a wife voting in an opposing direction from her husband. Ogata-San says, "About him and his wife voting for different parties. A few years ago that would have been unthinkable" (65). Ogata-San uses words like, "discipline" and "loyalty," when he discuses the past and the changes he sees happening.

On page 66 Ogata-San complains painfully of the loss of the former school system. Which is later described as being blind to the truth according to the western world. Ogata-San says, "I devoted my life to the teaching of the young….And then I watched the Americans tear it down" (66). Jiro attempts to show Ogata-San his mistake when he explains that the old system was one that taught children that, "Japan was created by the gods" (66).

Etsuko seems to drift back and forth in her memory of before and after the bombing. Her memories seem to be written into the text as they might really happen, without order and random. The suicide of her daughter seems to represent something but it is now quit clear what is. Maybe it is more of the aftermath of the bombing of Nagasaki.

Other questions arose as I read the text. At the end of the book it is as if the I was a little confused about the young girl and mother from next door. I wondered what happened to them. I was tempted to consider them as Etsuko and her daughter. The characters of the book seem to be surrounded by a mysterious wall created by the "pale" memories of a victim of the bomb.

A Pale View of Hills:  Discussion Notes

Etsuko:  Although she talks about how lucky she is and how much she's looking forward to having her baby (p. 25), Mrs. Fujiwara tells her she looks unhappy (p. 24 and 77).

Jiro:  Etsuko's husband is a workaholic.  He's a good provider and offers Etsuko the best of what traditional Japan has to offer, but he's emotionally unavailable.  On page 127 Etsuko says, "it was never in the nature of our relationship to discuss such things openly."  Furthermore, he's chauvinistic.  He's rude and accusatory when he asks Etsuko where his silk tie is (p. 132), he's abrupt and sarcastic when he asks her for tea (p. 154), and on page 133 he says, "What are you up to?  I haven't got all morning you know."  Clearly Etsuko's decision to leave Jiro at the end of the book is easy to understand.

Mrs. Fujiwara:  Owns a noodle shop in Nagasaki.  She's a friend of Etsuko.  I found it interesting that although she lost her husband in the bombing, the tragedy opened up an opportunity for her that she otherwise wouldn't have had.  Etsuko says she had always wanted to be a business owner and she seems fulfilled in the untraditional role.  She is a displaced homemaker who is able to be successful.  She often speaks about looking forward to the future (p. 25 and 111)

Ogata-San:  Etsuko's father-in-law.  He took Etsuko in when she lost her family (p. 76) and Etsuko is very fond of him.  They laugh together often.  He planted azaleas for Etsuko when she bacame engaged to his son Jiro (p. 136).  He believes in tradition and loyalty.  On page 29 he tells Jiro, "One shouldn't be so quick to forget old allegiances."  Ogata-San represents tradition.  He was a school teacher before WWII and he taught the "official" Japanese curriculum.  He is unable to (or unwilling to) admit that the old ways had negative consequences. 

The Chess Game:  Ogata-San tells Jiro to think three moves ahead (p. 129).  Ogata-San was unable to do that when he was a teacher in Nagasaki.  Shigo explains it to him on page 148.

Sachiko:  She is a displaced upper-class wife/homemaker.  She doesn't know how to be a mother.  Sachiko says she knows her own daughter (p. 43) and that her concerns are for her daughter (p. 44), but her actions prove otherwise.  Most of what she says is ironic.  She often says, "I'm not embarrassed..." (p. 71), but the truth is that she is embarrassed.  She is displaced, or out of place, like the tea pot she took from her uncle's which looks out of place in her shabby hut (p. 21).  She feel degraded to work at the noodle shop.  Her uncle wants her to come back and live with him but she can't stand the idea because it's boring there (p. 163), and on page 171 she finally admits that she's a bad mother. 

Mariko:  She witnessed a mother drown her baby (p. 74) and she's haunted by the woman's ghost.  She hates Frank-San, but her mother doesn't care (p. 80).  On page 123 she won a major prize at the Kujibiki, and then she wins again when Etsuko decides to go with her and her mother.  The kittens are important.  Mariko loves them and it's when Sachiko drowns them that Etsuko decides to be Mariko's mother.  Mariko is Keiko (p. 182), Etsuko's Japanese daughter who commits suicide. 

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