In times of war, people stop thinking straight. They let their emotions take control of their actions, and those actions take a toll on people. That toll chips away pieces of your soul until you realize, you do not recognize yourself. Acceptance and forgiveness of your sins are the hardest things in a lifetime. That is the greatest change people can make. In the novel, Tallgrass, by Sandra Dallas, the town of Ellis is now home to a Japanese Internment Camp. People’s first emotion was hatred against them. They would call the Japanese derogatory names, did mean things to them and blamed everything on them. Then, Susan Reddick is raped and murdered and all eyes are on the Japanese. The town of Ellis uses this as another excuse to be offensive
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Even when an entire town disagrees with Loyal Stroud’s opinions, he still hires the Japanese to work on the farm with him. This made a spark in the farming community and “Not long after the three [Japanese boys] came to work for [the Strouds], Mr. Gardner hired a Japanese crew to work his beet fields. Other farmers did the same thing,” (114). The farming industry, one of Ellis’s few good industries, has seen how well the Japanese do on farms, others are seizing the opportunity and they are hiring the Japanese. This all started with one farmer believing in the Japanese, and then others farmer believed in them too. The farmers from Ellis have accepted the Japanese as people, hard workers, and Americans. During the football season, Ellis became the unofficial champions of southeastern Colorado because the team they were playing against was Tallgrass, and they were not allowed on the field, so Ellis automatically won. After the football season was over, Tod, the captain of the Ellis team, went to see Jimmy Matoba, captain of the Tallgrass team, at the camp. Jimmy and Tod discussed how they both were going to join the military and that “‘Maybe the army’ll let [them] play against each other.’ Tod considered that. ‘[Tod] was thinking that maybe [they] could be on the same team.’ … And they shook hands,” (222). Football is a very big deal in Ellis. Football was the one thing that brought joy to the town and kept the war off of people’s minds. But once the Japanese got involved in football, the people of Ellis were threatened, so they made the Japanese lose by default. But the idea that Jimmy and Tod were not going to play against each other, but instead, play together on the same team, shows that people are changing and that they are accepting the Japanese as Americans, people, and friends. After the death of Danny Spano, and the
Even when an entire town disagrees with Loyal Stroud’s opinions, he still hires the Japanese to work on the farm with him. This made a spark in the farming community and “Not long after the three [Japanese boys] came to work for [the Strouds], Mr. Gardner hired a Japanese crew to work his beet fields. Other farmers did the same thing,” (114). The farming industry, one of Ellis’s few good industries, has seen how well the Japanese do on farms, others are seizing the opportunity and they are hiring the Japanese. This all started with one farmer believing in the Japanese, and then others farmer believed in them too. The farmers from Ellis have accepted the Japanese as people, hard workers, and Americans. During the football season, Ellis became the unofficial champions of southeastern Colorado because the team they were playing against was Tallgrass, and they were not allowed on the field, so Ellis automatically won. After the football season was over, Tod, the captain of the Ellis team, went to see Jimmy Matoba, captain of the Tallgrass team, at the camp. Jimmy and Tod discussed how they both were going to join the military and that “‘Maybe the army’ll let [them] play against each other.’ Tod considered that. ‘[Tod] was thinking that maybe [they] could be on the same team.’ … And they shook hands,” (222). Football is a very big deal in Ellis. Football was the one thing that brought joy to the town and kept the war off of people’s minds. But once the Japanese got involved in football, the people of Ellis were threatened, so they made the Japanese lose by default. But the idea that Jimmy and Tod were not going to play against each other, but instead, play together on the same team, shows that people are changing and that they are accepting the Japanese as Americans, people, and friends. After the death of Danny Spano, and the