Coffee Books

I have heard Brazilian children say that whatever passes through the arc of the rainbow becomes its opposite. But what is the opposite of a bird? Or for that matter, a human being? And what then, in the great rainforest, where, in its season, the rain never ceases and the rainbows are myriad?

This epigraph precedes Karen Yamashita's novel, "Through the Arc of the Rain Forest." Yamashita's novel focuses on the journey of Kasumasa Ishimaru as narrated by a ball revolving several inches from Kasumasa's head. The examinination of this piece, however, will revolve (literally and figuratively) on the motif of a rainbow through different parts of the novel, including the epigraph. Yamashita uses rainbows and arcs as symbols relating to consistent negative and positive patterns, imagery, and meanings within the novel.

The first introduction of the rainbow as a symbol occurs when Kasumasa encounters American J.B. Tweep, who is employed within a company Kasumasa holds controlling stock. J.B. chides Kasumasa into searching for more Matacao, which is the material that will create economic profit for Kasumasa's conglomerate. Within their search, J.B. Tweep hides protagonist Kasumaza Ishimaru from his competition. Tweep's undercover agents had been described as hiding themselves "at the arc of every rainbow" (149). The rainbow in this sense takes the meaning of a vast, unending space. The percieved sense of unrest, searching, and mystery contrasts the allusion of a peaceful rainbow. The arc represents an unexplainable plain which can be pilifered for special interest. In this instance, the rainbow does not take the shape of a beautious vision, but rather a vision of greed and deception.

The journey from new to old and back again to new is another presentation of the rainbow as an arc, a curving storyline with a significant purpose. Yamashita explains, "The old forest has returned once again...pursuing the lost perfection of an organism in which digestion and excretion ! were once one and the same." (212) The forest in this setting has been destroyed by extrordinary events. However, the forest continues to grow, to recycle. The theme of recycling and a cyclical pattern echo from this passage. Where a circle is said to have "no start and no end," an allusion is made towards a pattern of infinite possibilities and of rebirth and regeneration.

To give a greater context in the presentation of the rainbow as a symbol, one need not look further than the table of contents. The contents are broken up in six parts: The Beginning, The Developing World, More Development, Loss of Innocence, More Loss, and Return. Through careful examination, the pattern of an arc is presented through the first three parts relating to the setting and inciting incident and the last three parts regarding climax and conclusion. The first parts correlate to the rise of an arc, and the last parts correlate to the fall of the arc. In essence, the plot of the novel is like an arc, a rainbow-like pattern filled with emotional leaps and downfalls, of stunning portrayal and imaginative resolution.

The epigraph ties the novel neatly is discussing the rainbow as a symbol. The epigraph is directed through rumor, question, and pending answer, much like an arc. The breakdown of the epigraph is made to mirror the story. The rumor of Brazilian children within the epigraph relates directly to the rumors spread by the many characters within the early part of the novel, whether the rumor is contrived by the Brazilian people from Kasumasa's ball, J.B. Tweep three arms, or Mane Pena's feather use. The questions arise within the epigraph to symbolize the characters' situation, to find methods of practicality or exploitation of the rumors. In one such case, Kasumasa give his riches to both needy and greedy, many people within the novel question his motives including Kasumasa questioning his own motives. The pending answer within the epigrapgh relates to the ultimate destruction of the rain forest, the f! inal answer to human waste and stupidity.

The rainbow, through a final analysis resonates as a symbol for identity formation. Kasumaza is seen as an Asian American subject, even though his journey takes place in Brazil. In the context of whatever passes through the "rainbow becomes its opposite," Kasumaza symbolizes that choices can not be simplified to a basic premise of either/or, to whether Kasumasa is Asian or Brazilian, that a literary work is Asian American or not. Therefore, a rainbow's own identity can also be seen within the same light: multicolored to escape a single colored dimension; untouchable to resist a concrete ownership or state of being; unending to prevent an imaged start and finish.

Buy it and you'll be investing in one of the greatest collections of the century (and 2000 just started, so you know it has to be good).

Viva Las Steve Levine.