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Chapter 6: Loveday, 1942
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in After Darkness, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Dangers of Nationalism
Isolation and Trauma
Kindness, Compassion, and Selflessness
Racism, Xenophobia, and Division
Guilt and Atonement
Summary
Analysis
One night, Dr. Ibaraki wakes to people knocking on his door in his hospital quarters. The police bring in a Malay man whose face and neck are cut up and a Japanese man with a sprained wrist. Dr. Ibaraki asks for them to get Sister Bernice, unsure of his ability to treat the patients without her help and calming demeanor towards the patients. Luckily, Sister Bernice arrives.
Ibaraki’s anxiety that he will not be able to treat his patients without Sister Bernice shows his lack of confidence in his medical abilities.
Themes
At first, Dr. Ibaraki is unable to perform the surgery, and Sister Bernice must take over for him. Once she starts the process, Dr. Ibaraki is able to take over. The man with the sprained wrist tells Dr. Ibaraki that the other man crossed a boundary with “his girl,” and he snaps at Dr. Ibaraki, saying that he doesn’t know anything about love. This comment hits a nerve for Dr. Ibaraki.
Dr. Ibaraki’s anxiety during the surgery indicates his lack of certainty about himself as a doctor. In that same vein, his sensitivity about his relationship demonstrates his insecurity about his personal relationships.
Themes
After Dr. Ibaraki finishes operating on the patients, he meets Johnny Chang, who volunteered one of his taxis to drive the patients to the hospital. Johnny tells him that, though the patients’ injuries happened during a fight between a Japanese man and a Malay man, people of different races in Broome usually get along with each other. When Sister Bernice goes home, Dr. Ibaraki compliments her skills during the surgery that day. She comforts him about his initial inability to perform the surgery. Though Dr. Ibaraki is exhausted, he ends the night with a positive feeling.
The fact that Johnny volunteered one of his taxis underscores his importance as a member of the Japanese community of Broome. He clearly prides himself in Broome’s interracial harmony. The fact that Ibaraki feels better after performing the surgery and after Sister Bernice’s compliment shows that he derives pleasure from excelling as a doctor.
Themes
In August of that year, the Japanese community in Broome celebrates the Bon festival, which is a Japanese tradition. Dr. Ibaraki arrives just after sunset and watches the full moon rise with the crowd. Dr. Ibaraki keeps watching as the crowd thins. When Dr. Ibaraki walks over to the toronagashi (lantern ceremony), he encounters Sister Bernice and a group of nuns. One of the nuns asks Dr. Ibaraki if he is there alone, which makes him uncomfortable. Sister Bernice asks Dr. Ibaraki to explain the lantern ceremony to the women, and he tells them that the lanterns represent the spirits of the dead. In releasing them, people release their loved ones back into the spirit world. Dr. Ibaraki and Sister Bernice bond at the ceremony, and she tells him that her parents died when she was young. Dr. Ibaraki feels closer to Sister Bernice afterwards.
When Ibaraki shares his culture with Sister Bernice, he forms a real, substantial bond. This fact highlights the importance of intercultural connection in the novel. In confiding in Ibaraki, Sister Bernice further opens up the possibility for their friendship, showing that emotional connection thrives off of shared confidences.
Themes
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