The Housekeeper and the Professor is a novel written by Yoko Ogawa, and published in 2003. The story is about a mathematician who is the professor in the story. The novel focuses on a warm relationship and caring attitudes towards other people. The Housekeeper was caring towards the professor despite the fact that, he suffered from a brain damage after a tragic traffic road accident, and he can only produce 80 minutes worth of memories. In return, the professor also became caring and loving towards her, and her son, and this made her son become a mathematics teacher, thanks to the professor’s coaching. The story is told from the narrator’s point of view (the housekeeper). Ogawa uses the characters in the story to show how a relationship can grow from people of different classes and understanding. The housekeeper was able to bond with the professor, together with her son, something that seemed impossible because of the professor’s condition. The novel progresses with the professor, the housekeeper and her son having a great relationship, and living as a happy family. The author uses a graceful plot, with interesting characters to develop the theme of the story which is the magnificence of relationship through the mathematics. A family was created where it never existed. Ogawa writes an insightful and inspiring story on how a family can be created basing on trust, understanding, and love from the improbable.
The Housekeeper and the Professor is a story about the relationship between the characters. The story has three characters, the professor, the housekeeper, Root, the housekeeper’s son, and the professor’s sister in-law (the wife to his late brother). The professor is a 64 year old former university professor who specialized in number theory (Ogawa 46). He is depicted as a mathematician who loves children, and the Hanshin Tigers. After his accident, he could not remember much, but only new memories for 80 minutes only. The author’s portrayal of the professor is very moving; he has lost his memory, but can never forget about mathematics. After he was injured in a car accident, he has to live his entire life communicating through mathematics. Apart from communicating using mathematics, and despite the fact that he is lacking memory, the professor has a natural instinct for children, because we can see him bonding right away with the housekeeper’s son. After becoming close to the housekeeper’s son, the professor now shifted his mind from mathematics and came out of his insular world. He started caring for the child, beside his prime numbers. In addition to becoming close, the professor and Root were able to bond more over math, and later on baseball. Through their bonding, their lives became easy and enriched, which contributed to Root’s bright future.
The narrator, who is the professor’s house keeper is a single mother hired by the professor’s sister in law, from a housekeeping agency to take care of the professor. The housekeeper was a young single mother who was struggling to raise her son. She is depicted as a frustrated housekeeper because; she is taking care of a professor who only shows interest in mathematics. However, after some time, she feels affection and respect for the professor after observing his kindness towards her. Root is a ten year old boy who is the housekeeper’s son. He was named Root by the professor on account that, his head top appears flat like a square root symbol. Root and the professor shared one thing in common, that is being fans of the baseball as well as the Hanshin Tigers. Root was very close to the professor, just like father to son. Because of being close to the professor who was a mathematician, Root grows up to become a junior high school mathematics teacher. Another character in the story is the widow, the professor’s sister in-law. She hired the housekeeper for the professor, but ended up firing her for being close to the professor and working past her assigned hours. However, she later on accepted the housekeeper and her son after the professor wrote Euler’s formula during her confrontation with the housekeeper.
In the story, the housekeeper was being rejected by the professor’s sister in-law, but she builds a bond with the professor, together with her son. Their bond was based on loyalty, and the professor’s love of teaching. It is through the professor that her son was able to become a mathematics teacher (Ogawa 87). There was a strong bond between the housekeeper and her son with the professor because, they both had a longing. The professor longed for someone to take good care of him, while the housekeeper and her son longed for a man in their lives to complete their family. In the end, their heart desires were met, the narrator took good care of the professor, and his son found a father figure in the professor, which made him become a better person in the future, which maybe could not be possible if they had never met the professor.
Even in a tragic setting, Ogawa is able to create a setting that is full of love, understanding, and happiness between the characters. The Housekeeper and the Professor is a novel that engages the reader together with the characters, as it is full of emotions. Initially, the professor only loved mathematics and only cared about baseball, but in the end of the story, he becomes a changed person, who loves his housekeeper and her son. The professor became a man fond of two people who changed his life, and he changed theirs too after they appreciated his love for numbers.
Ogawa’s story is a beautiful story about life, loss, and love. The characters in the book are likeable and the reader can identify with them. The author remarkably creates a story with characters free of names, as the narrator is only referred to as "I," and she takes care of the house and the owner only known as "the Professor." The housekeeper’s son’s name is not told, but the professor nicknames him, Root. The author does an outstanding work by not using names and this makes the story more interesting, and readable. The reader is able to know, feel, and identify with the characters, even without knowing their names. In fact, one can never notice that the characters do not have names because the story is eye catching, and one can only notice that at the end of the story. Ogawa's story, The Housekeeper and the Professor writing style is subtle, elegant and multidimensional.
In conclusion, The Housekeeper and the Professor is an intimate family story, and the magic of mathematics. The professor only remembered about numbers, and his housekeeper was able to bond with him because, she also began to love numbers. Through this book, the reader is able to appreciate mathematics through the eyes of the narrator, and the professor. The professor only found solace in mathematics, but after getting a new housekeeper, he was able to change his shift and became fond of the housekeeper and her son, together with mathematics. The author shows the reader how numbers can be magical, and how they can build a bond between people. The professor’s love for numbers was infectious because, the housekeeper’s son was able to grow fond of mathematics, and ended up becoming a high school mathematics teacher. The professor and the housekeeper were introduced to each other anew, and afterwards, here was a beautiful relationship that blossomed between them. In essence, The Housekeeper and the Professor is a lovely, intriguing story that no one should miss out reading.
Works Cited
Ogawa, Yoko. The Housekeeper and the Professor. Deckle Edge: Picador, 2009. Print.
