In Obasan, Joy Kogawa makes the ending of the novel suitable for the plot because it concludes the story on a hopeful note. Kogawa creates a very appropriate ending to the novel by allowing Naomi to discover the truth about her mother after several years of not hearing anything about her. She also completes the ending by inserting the 1946 memo written by the Co-operative Committee on Japanese Canadians. The importance of Naomi finding out about her mother was incredibly important because the majority of the story revolves around the memories she holds of her mother. The novel is greatly concerned with the formation and retention of family bonds, but since Naomi hardly recalls her mother, she has a hard time retaining that family bond. For a very long time, Naomi suffers with the remote memories of her mother because she desperately wishes to hear an explanation to why she left and to why she never returns. When Naomi discovers that her mother is injured and awfully scarred because she is present in the bombing in Nagasaki, she begins to feel a greater connection between her mother and herself. In the end, Naomi quite insistently declares she feels a supernatural connection to her deceased mother, as if she is still present somehow. Naomi must talk herself into feeling her mother’s presence because she has practically nothing else to go on. Through this ending, however, Kogawa is able to demonstrate the peace and serenity that overtake Naomi when she finally understands the truth. The ending also allows Obasan to be in peace with herself because she no longer has to keep the secret from Naomi and her brother. This part of the ending is a perfectly suitable conclusion to the plot of the story, but it is the memo in the final page that truly captures the essence of the novel and expresses the author’s purpose. The memo at the end of the novel introduces hope because the Cooperative Committee on Japanese Canadians argues against the