Essay 4

Family Loyalties
One of the most beautiful things about the world is that every different part of the world has a different culture. Different cultures are wonderful, and something in one culture can mean something completely different in another culture. However like all wonderful things, culture has its drawbacks as well. In the Japanese culture they have something called filial piety, which means that the children of a family are to help pay off the family’s debt before they can pursue their own dreams. Here in America, this sort of tradition would be frowned upon. As Americans we believe in “for each his own” and that people should be responsible for their own debt and that we should be free to follow whatever dream we please. In the book, All I Asking For Is My Body by Milton Murayama, Toshio and Kiyoshi do not get to pursue their dreams. Their parents have an extreme amount of debt, and their Japanese decent means that they believe in filial piety. In this essay I will discuss Toshio and Kiyoshi’s outlooks on filial piety as well as why I think Toshio and Kiyoshi should and should not be responsible in helping their family get out of debt.
Toshio and Kiyoshi are the oldest two sons out of five children in their family. As the oldest sons, they are held mainly responsible for helping the family pay off their large debt. Kiyoshi is more soft-spoken and feels obliged to help his family get out of debt. Toshio has a whole different perspective on the matter. He feels like he should be able to follow his dreams and that the family debt is not his debt so he should not have to work to pay it off. The two boys are pulled from school and asked to work on a plantation to make money. The labor is grueling, and day by day the boy’s lives slip away from them. Toshio is upset because he wanted to go to school, but he is forced to work to pay off his parent’s debt. Kiyoshi is more obedient in the matter. He wants to be a good son, and he keeps his inner conflicts silent. Although the two boys have completely different perspectives on the matter, I do not think either of them is wrong in how they feel. I believe they both have valid points.
Siding with Toshio first, I believe he should be angry that he is forced to quit school to make money for his parents. There is a fine line between helping pay the debt, and doing all the work to pay off the debt. I believe that Toshio and Kiyoshi’s parents take advantage of their children. They know their children are younger and more capable of doing more intense labor, and they push and take advantage of their sons. I can understand if a family wants help in paying the bills, but the sons should not be the only ones responsible in doing the work. Also, Toshio and Kiyoshi’s parents expect their children to pay off debt that was accumulated before their sons were even born. I think this is absolutely unjust. I could understand if the parents wanted help paying off the debt that they accumulated while the boys were young, but forcing them to work to pay off debt that started before they were even brought into this world is just plain wrong. I think Toshio has a valid point in being upset and not wanting to help his parents because the parents are going about this issue unfairly. They are using guilt to force their kids to put aside their own goals and ambitions and work towards something that will not even benefit their life in the long run. For this reasons I side with Toshio on this matter.
However, Kiyoshi takes a stance on the extreme opposite side of the issue. He feels indebted to his parents and that he should help pay off the debt in any way possible. I believe that what he doing is correct too. Our parents spend thousands upon thousands of dollars on us during the time in our life where we are too young to provide for ourselves. They feed us, bathe us and put a roof over our heads. I can understand why Kiyoshi feels he should do what he can to pay off his parent’s debt. He feels like they have done so much for him thus far in life and the least he can do to repay them is to help pay off the debt. If our parents do so much for us when we are children, it is only fair that we repay them when we grow old enough to do so.
After taking into account both boys’ arguments, I think I would side with Toshio. Although I think he could find a small way to help with his parent’s debt, I understand his perspective better. One reason I think I agree with Toshio is because of the culture I grew up in. My parents gave me everything I needed to succeed thus far, however they would never pressure me to pay them back. Although I get the occasional nagging from my father to get a job, my parents do not pressure me and guilt trip me about the debt they have. Granted the American culture is much different than the Japanese culture, I think everyone should be able to pursue their dreams and should not be held back by debt that isn’t even theirs. Toshio is strong willed and I believe that he is doing the right thing by being upset about having to quit school to pay off debt. He should not be asked to stop pursuing his dreams because his parents cannot pay off their debt themselves. The only loophole I find in this is that his parents may have been asked to pay off their parents’ debt when they were Toshio and Kiyoshi’s age. In that case, I could understand why Kiyoshi feels indebted to his parents and I could understand why their parents put so much pressure on them to help pay it.
Overall I would say no, Toshio and Kiyoshi should not be responsible for paying the family’s debt. Everyone should be able to follow their dreams and Kiyoshi and Toshio are no exception. I believe the guilt their parents are placing on them is unfair. I understand that the Japanese culture is much different, but that does not mean that I agree with it. I do see where Toshio and Kiyoshi’s parents are coming from but I believe that they are taking the culture a little too far and distorting it to their advantage. Although Kiyoshi is correct in his actions as well, I would side with Toshio and say that they should not be responsible for paying off the family’s debt.