Josephine Park in her article gives her critical argument about Julie Otsuka’s When the Emperor Was Divine. Her article, “Alien Enemies in Julie Otsuka’s When the Emperor Was Divine”, published at spring 2013 in MFS Modern Fiction Studies. She explores how the family in the novel transform into “alien” and “treacherous beings” from a normal American family because of “racialized enmity” (137.) This exploration leads her other argument of continuing distinctions between minority groups in the United States which is directly related to political speak in the United States. She lists the labels that given to these groups, such as “Jap,” “Chinese Communist,” “Vietcong,” and argues this problem persists even today in a Post-9/11 environment (137.)
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Throughout the novel, none of the family members were in an accomplice with Japan Empire. They were not the enemy. They were just a regular American family. However, with the second world war and the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the government decided to imprison all the Japanese people lived in the U.S.A. because they do not know who is enemy. Japanese could not argue with their imprisonment. At the very beginning of the novel, the reaction of the woman when she sees “The Evacuation Order no.19” shows she has no choice but do whatever it’s told on the sign. Otsuka shows woman’s helplessness with how she just turns around and directly goes home to begin packing (Otsuka 3.) One day before she leaves her home, Otsuka shows woman’s thoughts, “She did not know where they were going or how long they would be gone or who would be living in their house while they were away. She knew only that tomorrow they had to go” (Otsuka 9.) Here, Otsuka shows woman’s despair by emphasizing that she did not know anything, but she needed to leave. Her freedom taken away from her government, and she forced to leave behind all her life in Berkley. When the woman and the children started to live in the camp, their worries increased about what will become to them. They hear rumors all the time about what happens to Japanese people like them, “They would be stripped of their citizenship. They would be taken out onto high seas and then shot. They would be held hostage until every last American POW got home safely…” (Otsuka 70.) Rumors shows Japanese people’s fear. Innocence people put in the camps because of governments fear about what Japanese intentions are, and ultimately, it resulted with fear of Japanese people about what the government will do with them. Otsuka represents the fear of unknown’s results in both governments decision to put Japanese
Throughout the novel, none of the family members were in an accomplice with Japan Empire. They were not the enemy. They were just a regular American family. However, with the second world war and the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the government decided to imprison all the Japanese people lived in the U.S.A. because they do not know who is enemy. Japanese could not argue with their imprisonment. At the very beginning of the novel, the reaction of the woman when she sees “The Evacuation Order no.19” shows she has no choice but do whatever it’s told on the sign. Otsuka shows woman’s helplessness with how she just turns around and directly goes home to begin packing (Otsuka 3.) One day before she leaves her home, Otsuka shows woman’s thoughts, “She did not know where they were going or how long they would be gone or who would be living in their house while they were away. She knew only that tomorrow they had to go” (Otsuka 9.) Here, Otsuka shows woman’s despair by emphasizing that she did not know anything, but she needed to leave. Her freedom taken away from her government, and she forced to leave behind all her life in Berkley. When the woman and the children started to live in the camp, their worries increased about what will become to them. They hear rumors all the time about what happens to Japanese people like them, “They would be stripped of their citizenship. They would be taken out onto high seas and then shot. They would be held hostage until every last American POW got home safely…” (Otsuka 70.) Rumors shows Japanese people’s fear. Innocence people put in the camps because of governments fear about what Japanese intentions are, and ultimately, it resulted with fear of Japanese people about what the government will do with them. Otsuka represents the fear of unknown’s results in both governments decision to put Japanese