January 14, 2010
I enjoy reading historical fiction novels since they allow me to get a glimpse of life during other time periods and places through the eyes of the novels' characters. A well-written historical novel is based on facts, which allows me to gain historical knowledge, in a relaxing manner.
Molokai provided me with a window into life on the Hawaiin island, which served as a lepers' colony from the late 19th century to 1980 when it was officially designated as a "National Historical Park." The novel spans almost eighty years, from 1891-1970. During this time the island transforms from a highly regulated, quarantined community to a less restrictive environment where "non-leper" volunteers where able to interact more freely with those with the disease and a place where residents voluntarily chose to remain even after they were cured. The island also changed as a result of technology from complete isolation from the rest of the world to increased access to the world through technological advances (such as moving pictures, short-wave radio and newspapers).
The main character, Rachel, as a young child is identified as exhibiting symptoms of "the sickness that tears families apart", resulting in her deportation from her family in Honolulu to Molokai. Here she finds a new family among nuns and children at a girls' home, a biological uncle and his lover, an honorary aunt. Among her family, only her father visits her on the island. During early adulthood, she falls in love and marries a Japanese-American resident.
One might expect this novel, given the subject material, to be depressing. However, this novel inspires and touches through its celebration of the human spirit, emphasizing the bonds of human connection and the celebration of life.
"This was life, and if some things were kapu (prohibited), others weren't; she had to stop regretting the ones that were and start enjoying the ones that were not"
Her love for her husband and friends remain steadfast and uplift through her life.
Rachel is not free from heartbreak and devastation. She outlives her childhood friends and witnesses her husband's murder. Everyday she lives with the pain of giving up her only child (babies were forcefully removed from their mothers at birth and taken to the mainland for adoption to prevent further spread of the disease). I ached for her loss and was overjoyed with her ultimate reunion with her daughter thirty years later when she is cured and released from Molokai.
I was deeply moved by the loved shared between Rachel and her husband, Kenji. Kenji exhibited the depth of this love and devotion to Rachel when he forgoed the opportunity to leave the island upon discovering he was cured, since Rachel remained positive. He made the ultimate sacrifice for love, proving that it doesn't matter were you live as long as you are with loved ones.
This reaffirms an important lesson for me as I have struggled with leaving our families in Houston to move to California with Allen and Buffy. While I miss my family and the familiarity of Houston, I am blessed to be with Allen and Buffy. Their love, in addition to the new friendships I have formed here, supports me. The natural beauty of California also comforts me as Molokai's beauty comforted Rachel.
"Rachel saw the lush green pali (cliff) soaring high in the sky...more beautiful than anything she could have imagined...There was a grandeur to the pali; that awed and moved her, and for the first time in days she actually felt something other than terror and lonliness."
I was also inspired by faith and hope which resonated throughout the novel
" God didn't give man wings; he gave him the brain and spirit to give himself wings. Just as he gave us the capacity to laugh when we hurt, or to struggle when we feel like giving up..."
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