Seventeen Syllables

There are two parallel stories in “Seventeen Syllables”: Rosie’s emerging womanhood and Tome’s awakening as a poet. Both stories intertwine. For instance, when Tome continues to discuss haiku in social situations even after Mr. Hayashi expresses his dissatisfaction at the Hayanos’ home, Rosie is also inspired to go against expectation by meeting Jesus in the packing shed. In both cases, this passion is eventually tempered by another person in their family: Tome’s by her husband, and Rosie’s by her mother. In the end, “Seventeen Syllables” illustrates how Japanese American women across both generations become weighed down by familial and cultural pressures. Tome’s moment of creative freedom lasts only three months.

Although the story is told through Rosie’s limited point of view, Tome’s situation emerges as the story’s primary conflict. There are multiple reasons why Tome becomes so passionate about haiku: composing haiku provides her an outlet to express things about herself that she cannot share with her husband and daughter; discussing haiku satisfies her need for intellectual stimulation, something previously lacking in her social life; it repairs a broken connection between the present and her past in Japan; and it might even give her a way to rise above her social class or, at the very least, to feel a sense of independence.