Burnt Shadows Essay Questions

What were the effects of war on the characters of Burnt Shadows?

The first section of Burnt Shadows is set in a war-torn Nagasaki, Japan, during World War II, moments before the United States drops an atomic bomb on the city. This section of the novel explores how the lives of Nagasaki's residents have changed during the war and the effects of the war on their environment.

"The Yet Unknowing World" shows us that the key—and most drastic—negative effect of war is the loss of innocent lives. American airstrikes in Japan led to the creation of airstrike shelters where people would go once a warning was issued. After the atomic bomb is dropped, many people die, including Hiroko's father and fiancee, Konrad. Hiroko herself is badly injured.

Other effects of war in Japan are that personal freedoms were limited. Konrad felt that his freedom of expression was limited and he had to hide his books where they had written about Imperial Japan. Matsui Tanaka, Hiroko's father, was arrested and detained for two weeks without a fair trial. Hiroko is treated with suspicion because she is marked as a "traitor's daughter." There is heavy governmental surveillance which puts communities on edge and makes people turn on their friends. For example, Yoshi and Konrad are close friends before the war; however, due to the political suspicion of foreigners during the war, Yoshi no longer associates with Konrad in public.

How is the theme of Individual vs. Nation developed in Burnt Shadows?

Hiroko Tanaka is the main character of Burnt Shadows. We follow her life over a period of almost 60 years, from Nagasaki, to Delhi, to Karachi, to New York City. Over this time, we watch as she engages with the cultures and nations she is living in. Hiroko explicitly disagrees with the idea of "nationality" and regards social customs that tear people apart with suspicion. This is evident from the first section of the book, when she pursues a romantic relationship with Konrad despite the fact that foreigners are treated with intense suspicion in wartime Japan. Later, she grows close with Sajjad despite the fact that she is living in the Burton household and they see Sajjad as a mere employee who comes from a "different world." In Karachi, she is suspicious of the Pakistani government making religion public, which results in a cultural "Islamisation." Finally, in New York City, she develops friendships with taxi drivers from Pakistan, including Omar. She also chooses to help Abdullah, even though he is on the run from the US government.

In each of these instances, Hiroko looks at an individual's character rather than their national or political identity. She knows that Abdullah is a good man, despite the fact that he is being pursued by the government.

Hiroko disagrees with people, like Kim, who feel allied with a particular national identity. She feels as if these people are misguided: "She felt about people who believed in the morality of their nations exactly as she felt about those who believed in religion: it was baffling, it seemed to defy all reason, and yet she would never be the one to attempt to wrestle the comfort of illusory order away from someone else" (335).

Language is an important motif in Burnt Shadows. How is the motif developed? How do the characters use language in the novel?

The characters use language in Burnt Shadows to build intimacy with each other across their differences. An example of this is Hiroko's relationship with Sajjad, which is able to flourish because Sajjad gives Hiroko Urdu lessons. As Hiroko learns Urdu, they are able to speak to each other in both English and Urdu, which gives them more room for mutual understanding. For example, after Hiroko tells Sajjad about losing Konrad, he asks her if she would like to be consoled in the English way (by leaving her alone in her grief) or in the Urdu way (by joining her in her grief and trying to take some of it from her). As Hiroko learns Urdu, she also enters Sajjad's world, and can connect with him more fully as a result.

Choose two characters and compare/contrast them. How are they different? Do they find common understanding despite their differences?

Two characters in Burnt Shadows that are vastly different are Hiroko and Kim. Hiroko does not believe in the idea of a nation and thinks that people who hold on to nationalistic sentiments are naïve. In contrast, Kim is overcome with her feelings of patriotism following the 9/11 terrorist attack. Kim and Hiroko's differences come to a head when a character from Raza's past, Abdullah, is on the run from the American Government. Hiroko's first instinct is to help the man, while Kim treats him with suspicion. Eventually, Kim ends up turning Abdullah in to the government, but Raza takes Abdullah's place.

Explain the significance of Kim Burton's decision to turn Abdullah in at the end of the novel. Do you think she would have intentionally turned in Raza if she knew he was on the run from the government?

Kim Burton's decision to turn in Abdullah at the end of Burnt Shadows was borne out of her nationalism and xenophobia, exacerbated by the terrorist attack on September 11th. She turned Abdullah in because he is a stranger she does not understand; to her, he is just an Afghan, like the man who killed her father. Raza, on the other hand, is someone she has been hearing about in family stories her entire life. While she can dehumanize Abdullah, she cannot so easily dehumanize Raza, who is part of her family history. Because of this, I don't think Kim would have turned Raza in.