The Past That Follows: Ishiguro's Fiction and Modern History Anna Lisa Colby College

Trauma plays an extremely significant role in Kazuo Ishiguro's novel A Pale View of Hills. Not only is the novel set in the time after the bombing of Nagasaki, but each character has also lived through different traumas that have distinct and differing effects, and play out in the characters' actions and personalities. Ishiguro adeptly addresses history and past events to spark a fire in his characters that is tangible to his readers.

The bombing of Nagasaki was a detrimental part of history and this story. It shapes the backgrounds of the character's lives and puts characters where they need to be for the novel to become what it needs to be. The Nagasaki bombing killed many innocent people and leveled the city. Such a setting for this novel paints a picture of the destruction that was left behind as a result of this. The novel portrays Etsuko's and Sachiko's living conditions through descriptions of the river bank near their homes. Indeed, the terrible conditions they live in as a result of the bombings lead to a character development in Sachiko, which the reader needs in order to understand the standoffish way in which she regards Etsuko and her present situation.

Sachiko is a unique character in the way that the reader never...