November 4, 2016 - 12:30
All of the characters in All Over Creation by Ruth Ozeki, have very distinct identities that were transformed by many different aspects of their lives. When Yumi was only 14 years old, she left her family to live on her own and find her true self. During her journeys she formed her own identity along with her children’s identities in Hawaii. Her mother, Momoko, found a special connection to nature that allows her to explore her own identity. While the people in one’s life have a very large effect on one’s identity, the biggest factors that form a person’s identity is their environment.
Yumi always felt very constricted by parents when she was growing up and this forced her to abandon them when she was only 14 years old, in an effort to explore her identity and become the person she wanted to be. The reader is encouraged to believe that Yumi enjoys living in Hawaii the most and this is where she feels most at home. Yumi never felt like she fit in with the other people in Idaho. She explains, “That’s what it felt like when I was growing up, like I was a random fruit in a field of genetically identical potatoes” (Ozeki 4). The fact that Yumi looked and acted different than the other people in her community, really labeled her as the “other.” She believed that this society was not made for people like her, and this forced her to change environments for herself. When she was living in Hawaii, she had the freedom to explore herself and feed off the people around her. Although she still had many struggles while living in Hawaii, it was the best place for her. She could connect with those around her and enjoy herself without pressure from society to be a certain way. She was not a lone fruit anymore, because everyone else was also a unique fruit, not a uniform, white potato.
Along with Yumi, all of her kids also feel most at home in Hawaii where they are free to be themselves. Yumi has the opposite parenting style as her parents, so she allows her children to be very independent and pretty much do whatever they want. Yumi always felt very restricted by her parents and this forced her to leave them. She does not want to put her children through that same struggle. Even though in Idaho, Yumi is not pressuring her children in any way, they feel that their identities are being questioned. They are all of a sudden dropped into this uniform, white society where they are also seen as the “other.” Phoenix, Yumi’s oldest child, describes the way he is treated by the other kids in school, “’You know. Get rid of everybody. Niggers, Japs, queers, wetbacks, hippie scum, whatever’…’What about Ocean? Does she get picked on too?’ Phoenix shook his head. ‘The kids in her class pretty much all like her’” (Ozeki 238). The list of people that Phoenix describes are all seen as different versions of the “other.” The fact that they do not fit in, allows them to be completely mistreated and the white boys get away with it. He tells Yumi not to worry about Ocean because she has a similar appearance to the others in her class, therefore she is not picked on. This situation makes Phoenix long to be back in Hawaii, where he is not treated so poorly. He can be himself without being seen as some alien in the crowds of white people. This is something that Yumi struggled a lot with when she was growing up, and she does not want to put her kids through it too. She understands that this environment is negatively affecting the way they see their own identities and she wants to go back to Hawaii before it starts changing their identities for the worse.
Momoko’s identity is very strongly influenced by her environment and the nature around her. Her passion is her farming, which helps her to connect with plants and nature, rather than the people in her life. Momoko has her own business selling seeds to help others grow food and form similar connections to nature. In letters written back to Momoko, the customers’ say, “’This is the second year we’ve planted your Kyoto Three Feets, and I cannot tell you what pleasure they bring’… ‘My wife and I want to thank you for your heroic efforts to preserve the rich diversity of heirloom tomatoes’” (Ozeki 113). Momoko’s business is much appreciated in her community and it really helps to form her identity. To Lloyd’s disapproval, Momoko is able to form her own connections with others without relying on him for support. Her environment enables her to be who she wants, without the judgements of others in the community. Farming is a hobby that she has been able to hold onto, even in her old age and worsening dementia. This shows the huge impact it made on her life.
Society as a whole and the environment that one grows up in, shapes one’s identity in a very obvious way. Yumi was always seen as an outsider in her community because she was not white. Moving back to Idaho, her children feel this same sense of loneliness in that same community. One aspect of life that is different for Yumi and her kids, is the way that they are treated by her parents. Yumi does not want to restrict her children in the same way that she was controlled when she was growing up, which eventually led to her running away. The freedom and independence that nature gives Momoko enables her to be herself and form connections with others in her environment. This is something that she proudly accomplished without the support of her husband. Overall, it is determined that the overall environment that one lives in, drastically changes the way they see themselves, others, and life.
Sources:
Ozeki, Ruth L. All over Creation. New York: Penguin, 2004. Print.