The narrating voice shifts the blame at multiple stages the total ignorance of white Americans about what was happening is stressed constantly (despite the notices for Japanese Americans being widely available to them as well), feelings of worry, anger and indignation and the writing of petitions are used as indicators that white Americans did care about their Japanese neighbours despite not undertaking any real action, and lastly, when Japanese homes and businesses are looted and their possessions are redistributed the passive voice is used to once again remove the agency from those doing the looting to make it appear as a natural agent-less event.These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. In contrast, in ‘A Disappearance’ the act of relocation is mostly depersonalised, removing agency from those involved. There is clear agency for both those who did the taking and those who allowed it to happen. However, when we compare both texts’ handling of this theme a stark difference is immediately made clear Niemöller ’s poem is unambiguous, ‘they’ took people and the lyrical subject both admits to observing this and doing nothing. So, whilst the redefinition of ‘we’ is often inconsistent or deliberately contradictory, the general focal point could be said to be centred around Japanese Americans (with the emotional core of the narrative often focusing on Japanese American women). the focus begins with Japanese picture brides, then expands to Japanese American women, then to Japanese American mothers and then Japanese Americans in general, this coinciding with the evolution of the themes from first journey, first night, integrating in the US, raising children and finally being regarded with suspicion and hostility when Japan assaults Pearl Harbor and war is declared.
Nevertheless, it could be said that the focus is generally expanding as the novel proceeds, i.e. This subtle movement varies from sentence to sentence and is not always consistent or unambiguous. For most of the narrative the ‘we’ changes in a fashion that is directly linked to the thematic focalisation of each chapter. The Buddha in the Attic is primarily a work that discusses and depicts the lives of a marginalised and historically silenced group(s) of people.
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