Seventeen Syllables

Language is immediately invoked by the title of “Seventeen Syllabus” and again in the story’s opening scene. One of the major contributors to the cultural distance between issei and nisei Japanese Americans, both in the United States writ large and for Rosie and Tome specifically, is language. Rosie thinks in English and is a poor student of Japanese. She “knew Japanese in fits and starts,” and “her mother had even less English” (8-9). When they speak together, there is aways a layer of possible mistranslation. Rosie wants to meet her mother halfway by thinking about a haiku in English and French, but she decides against it; she knows Tome will not understand it, just as Tome does not understand Rosie’s interest in other things. Meanwhile, Tome knows that Rosie merely feigns her literacy in Japanese. This language barrier deepens the gap between mother and daughter and contributes to their other misunderstandings—such as the lesson Tome wants to give about marriage.

Literacy is also a major factor in the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Hayashi. During the visit to the Hayano family, when Tome talks with Mr. Hayano about haiku, Mr. Hayashi looks through a “picture magazine” (11).