Japanese-Americans’ Fight to Retain a Dual Identity During WWII
Since the United States was founded in 1776, the nation has remained a country of immigrants, who journey to America in search of a promising future, freedom, and opportunity. Unfortunately, throughout the United States’ history racism and xenophobism have existed against immigrants. American citizens have exhibited hostility toward immigrants, in fear the newcomers will steal their jobs and threaten the prevalent culture of their cities and towns. In spite of the discrimination they continue to face, immigrants also struggle to define their relationship with the United States and their home nation. Frequently, immigrants construct a dual identity, when they adopt the American …show more content…
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor and Executive Order 9066, the United States government interned over 127,000 Japanese-Americans in camps and required Japanese-American citizens demonstrate their loyalty to the nation, through methods, including a loyalty questionnaire (“Japanese-American Internment”). “Becoming an American” should not compel a first or second generation family to renounce their cultural beliefs. The book, When the Emperor Was Divine,” follows the experiences of a Japanese-American family during WWII, at the internment camps, and when they return home. Julie Otsuka, the author of the book, combines both her research and family’s own personal experience with to craft a compelling novel about the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII. Throughout the book, When the Emperor Was Divine, the main characters fail to claim a dual identity or one which is both Japanese and American. At various points in the text, the reader witnesses the Japanese-American family endeavoring to retain their culture, but ultimately by the end of the book, the mother, girl, and boy, but not the father have abandoned their Japanese identity, in an effort to …show more content…
At the beginning of the book, with strength, poise, and determination, the mother prepares her family to reside in the internment camp. Quietly, the mother accepts her family’s fate and submits to the American government’s request. During the packing scene of the book, the mother places items from Japan, like a set of ivory chopsticks her mother sent her from Kagoshima into boxes and transports them to the sunroom. The packing scene represents how at least temporarily, the family must hide their Japanese heritage. The day after her husband was detained by the United States government, the woman creates a bonfire in their yard and burns any memories the family has acquired from Japan, including the letters and photographs of their family in Japan, as well as Japanese flags and records. Fear propels the woman to destroy the Japanese part of her family’s identity. Also, the mother encourages her children to ignore their Japanese culture. Typically, for lunch, the woman would pack rice balls for the boy’s and girl’s lunch, but now she makes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to cause the children to appear “more American.” “‘No more rice balls,’ she said. ‘And if anyone asks, you’re Chinese” (Otsuka 75). While at the internment camp, the mother loses the emotional strength she once possessed, spends her time asleep, and dreams of her childhood in
Since the United States was founded in 1776, the nation has remained a country of immigrants, who journey to America in search of a promising future, freedom, and opportunity. Unfortunately, throughout the United States’ history racism and xenophobism have existed against immigrants. American citizens have exhibited hostility toward immigrants, in fear the newcomers will steal their jobs and threaten the prevalent culture of their cities and towns. In spite of the discrimination they continue to face, immigrants also struggle to define their relationship with the United States and their home nation. Frequently, immigrants construct a dual identity, when they adopt the American …show more content…
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor and Executive Order 9066, the United States government interned over 127,000 Japanese-Americans in camps and required Japanese-American citizens demonstrate their loyalty to the nation, through methods, including a loyalty questionnaire (“Japanese-American Internment”). “Becoming an American” should not compel a first or second generation family to renounce their cultural beliefs. The book, When the Emperor Was Divine,” follows the experiences of a Japanese-American family during WWII, at the internment camps, and when they return home. Julie Otsuka, the author of the book, combines both her research and family’s own personal experience with to craft a compelling novel about the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII. Throughout the book, When the Emperor Was Divine, the main characters fail to claim a dual identity or one which is both Japanese and American. At various points in the text, the reader witnesses the Japanese-American family endeavoring to retain their culture, but ultimately by the end of the book, the mother, girl, and boy, but not the father have abandoned their Japanese identity, in an effort to …show more content…
At the beginning of the book, with strength, poise, and determination, the mother prepares her family to reside in the internment camp. Quietly, the mother accepts her family’s fate and submits to the American government’s request. During the packing scene of the book, the mother places items from Japan, like a set of ivory chopsticks her mother sent her from Kagoshima into boxes and transports them to the sunroom. The packing scene represents how at least temporarily, the family must hide their Japanese heritage. The day after her husband was detained by the United States government, the woman creates a bonfire in their yard and burns any memories the family has acquired from Japan, including the letters and photographs of their family in Japan, as well as Japanese flags and records. Fear propels the woman to destroy the Japanese part of her family’s identity. Also, the mother encourages her children to ignore their Japanese culture. Typically, for lunch, the woman would pack rice balls for the boy’s and girl’s lunch, but now she makes peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to cause the children to appear “more American.” “‘No more rice balls,’ she said. ‘And if anyone asks, you’re Chinese” (Otsuka 75). While at the internment camp, the mother loses the emotional strength she once possessed, spends her time asleep, and dreams of her childhood in