Check your understanding

(An excerpt from The Big Wave, by Pearl S. Buck. New York: Harper
Trophy, 1976.)

Overview

Kino lives on a farm on the side of a mountain in Japan. His friend, Jiya, lives in a fishing village below. Everyone, including Kino and Jiya, has heard of the big wave. No one suspects it will wipe out the whole village and Jiya’s family, too. As Jiya struggles to overcome his sorrow, he understands it is in the presence of danger that one learns to be brave, and to appreciate how wonderful life can be. During the Holocaust many children lost their entire family. This story is about a child who, like so many children in the Holocaust, loses his family and looks to the kindness of friends to help him cope with the loss.

Objectives:

Students should be able to:

• understand some of the cultural differences between their own culture and that of the
characters in the story;
• recognize that people deal with loss in many different ways;
• understand the meaning of enemy; and
• understand how something other than a person can be considered an enemy.

Suggested topics for discussion:

• Why did Jiya called the sea “our enemy”? What does he mean?
• Why do the people whose homes face away from the sea don’t have windows on the
rear of their homes? What do people in Florida do to protect their homes from
damage?
• Who is the old gentleman? Do you think he minds the boys swimming to his island?
How did you reach that conclusion?
• Discuss what Jiya meant when he said the sea is angry. What do you think an angry
sea looks like?
• What was Jiya’s father’s reaction when the two boys are late returning from the sea?
Why?
• Analyze the cultural differences shown in the story.
• Discuss Kino’s father’s quote, “Then do not be afraid. When you are afraid, you are
thinking about them all the time. Enjoy life and do not fear death – that is the way of
a good Japanese.”
• How do the different characters deal with the big wave and the death of Jiya’s
family? How do you deal with scary and sad events? Which of the characters’
actions are most like your own?
• Discuss Jiya’s decision to stay with Kino and his family. Why did the old man want
Jiya to be his son?
• What was the old man’s reaction to people rebuilding their lives on the beach?
Why?
• At what point in the story did Jiya begin to live again? What or who helped this to
happen? How?

Suggested Activities:

• Research Japanese culture.
• Compare and contrast the life of a farmer with that of a fisherman in Japan.
• Create a Venn diagram comparing Kino’s vacation and a vacation you have taken.
• Compare Kino’s daily life to your own.
• Make a map or model of the island from the story, including the geographical
information given in the story.
• Study the topography of Japan and the surrounding islands.
• Research the weather patterns of Japan.
• Research the big wave.
• Write an article for a newspaper reporting about the big wave. Write follow-up
articles about the people involved.
• In small groups plan and create fishing villages that could possibly withstand another
big wave. Present how each group’s village could survive a big wave.