No-No Boy by John Okada is a story about a twenty-five-year-old, second generation Japanese-American named Ichiro Yamada. The year is 1946 and Ichiro, a former undergraduate student at the University of Washington, returns home to Seattle after spending two years at an internment camp and federal prison. He was punished for refusing to serve in the Armed Forces and to swear allegiance to the United States. At that time, he became a “no-no boy.” The reason behind his resentment was because was mad over the fact that the United States’ government placed innocent Japanese immigrants and Japanese-Americans in concentration camps. Throughout the novel, Ichiro struggles with the guilt that he carries about not fighting in the war and he struggles
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Despite his Japanese heritage, Ichiro identifies as an American. He also knew he was not being true when he answered “no” to the two questions in the internment camp. He makes his feelings plain early in the novel, when he first returns home on page 16, “...one is not born in America and raised in America and taught in America and one does not speak and swear and drink and smoke and play and fight and see and hear in America among Americans in American streets and houses without becoming American and loving it.” Not only does Ichiro have to convince white Americans that he is a true American, but he also faces hostility from other Japanese Americans who despise him for being a “no-no boy.” Over the course of the novel, it becomes clear that Ichiro blames his mother for his decision to not serve in the war. He believes that it is her fault that he struggling with an identity crisis and being unable to accept himself as a worthy American. Ichiro even goes one step further and thinks she is insane, due to her belief that Japan won the war, and all else is propaganda that was staged by the United States government. Ichiro’s father’s behavior strengthens the conflict. He fails to open his wife’s eyes to reality and avoids the conflict drinking alcohol. Consequently, the father-son relationship fails as
Despite his Japanese heritage, Ichiro identifies as an American. He also knew he was not being true when he answered “no” to the two questions in the internment camp. He makes his feelings plain early in the novel, when he first returns home on page 16, “...one is not born in America and raised in America and taught in America and one does not speak and swear and drink and smoke and play and fight and see and hear in America among Americans in American streets and houses without becoming American and loving it.” Not only does Ichiro have to convince white Americans that he is a true American, but he also faces hostility from other Japanese Americans who despise him for being a “no-no boy.” Over the course of the novel, it becomes clear that Ichiro blames his mother for his decision to not serve in the war. He believes that it is her fault that he struggling with an identity crisis and being unable to accept himself as a worthy American. Ichiro even goes one step further and thinks she is insane, due to her belief that Japan won the war, and all else is propaganda that was staged by the United States government. Ichiro’s father’s behavior strengthens the conflict. He fails to open his wife’s eyes to reality and avoids the conflict drinking alcohol. Consequently, the father-son relationship fails as