Nora Okja Keller is a Korean-American woman who was Hawai'i raised. Keller was never expected to become a writer, her Korean parents just did not think that it wold fit into their picture perfect life they had planned out for her. It wasn't until Keller attended a symposium on human rightsm that she became even interested in writing as a hobby. At the symposium she attended, she heard a horrific story of a comfort woman, and for months her dreams were filled with "images of war and women, of blood and birth." the only way that she could get these images out of her head was to excrete it through her writing, out of which came the book, Comfort Woman. |  Check out this website to read even more about Nora Okja Keller! http://www.apa.si.edu/Curriculum%20Guide-Final/norakellerbio.htm |
A lot of the bits and pieces that come straight from the novel, are perfectly reflected with the dreams and images that haunted her. Many say that its as if Keller is a sort of medium herself, communicating the horrors and stories of comfort women, and bearing witness through her writing. Thtrances that are so aften talked about in the book, are a direct reflection of the way she felt when writing about the comfort women. She felt as though at night times she would just into a trance and block out the rest of the world so she could relay the story that came into her head.
Nora's heritage is greatly casted in the novel, even making her main two characters Korean, just like her own family. Keller went through a period where she denied her heritage and would be embarrassed by her mother when confronted about something. When Beccah is with her strictly Korean mother she also pushes away her own culture. I believe that alot of what Keller wrote about is a reflection of her own life through the use of ghosts.
