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Emperor was divine julie otsuka analysis
Emperor was divine julie otsuka analysis
Emperor was divine julie otsuka analysis
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In When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka, each of the characters – the mother, the daughter, the son, and the father - change because of their time spent in the Japanese-American internment camps. These characters change in not only physical ways, but they also undergo psychic and emotional changes as a result of staying in the camps. These changes weaken their resolve for living and cause the quality of their lives to decline; some of these changes will affect their lives forever. Their reclassification into the internment camps stays with the family long after they are released from the camps.
Over the course of the family's – and the father's – stay in the internment camps, their looks change a great deal. At one point, the mother tells her son that the father won't recognize her when he returns. Certainly, the mother's physical appearance does change quite a bit. Even within the first few months, while at the Tanforan temporary internment camp, the narrator describes her as having gained wrinkles around her eyes. She gains gray hairs, as she exhibits to her son: “She pulled the gray hair from her head and let it fall to the floor.” (85) Her daughter points out that she has run out of lipstick; and later, in the next internment camp, her loss of her skin cream – that she uses to keep herself looking younger – is mentioned. “His mother said it aged you. The sun. She said it made you grow old. Every night she daubed cream on her face.” (63). Her changes barely rival the changes of the father, however; the father would have done well to have merely contracted a few wrinkles, as she did. The father seems to age many years over the course of his stay at the internment camps; he would have done well with some of the mother's ...
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...ld be an informer.” (134) The father, at first, does not even believe that he is home. He constantly needs validation that he is really safe, back again, and not separated from his family. “He needed to see our faces. Otherwise he would never know if he was really awake.” (133)
In the story, each character's mental and physical health changes, whether it is prominently obvious or not. Their health declines – whether it be a rapid decline, as in the father's case, or a graduating descent, like the the rest of the family – and they become older and less attached to the real world, more attached to each other. They retain their habits from the camp and it affects the way that they live amongst other people, in the outside world. The permanence of the changes is evident in each character and will strongly affect the way they live the rest of their life from that point.
In conclusion, the story describes that life changes, and nothing stays the same throughout it. It is in the hands of the people to decide that how they want their life to be. They can make it as beautiful as they want to and they can also make it worse than it has ever been
It was times throughout the book the reader would be unsure if the children would even make it. For example, “Lori was lurching around the living room, her eyebrows and bangs all singed off…she had blisters the length of her thighs”(178).Both Lori and Jeannette caught fire trying to do what a parent is supposed to do for their child. Jeannette caught fire at the age of three trying to make hotdogs because her mother did not cook for her leaving Jeannette to spend weeks hospitalized. She was burnt so bad she had to get a skin graft, the doctors even said she was lucky to be alive. The children never had a stable home. They were very nomadic and a child should be brought up to have one stable home. No child should remember their childhood constantly moving. This even led to Maureen not knowing where she come from because all she can remember is her moving. The children had to explain to her why she looked so different is because where she was born. They told Maureen “she was blond because she’d been born in a state where so much gold have been mined, and she had blue eyes the color of the
One such event is when Jennings learns that his mother has been giving all the food to him and his brothers. This caused her to fall ill. He and his brothers knew that they would be sent off to other orphanages again. At his new orphanage he was abused by the nuns taking care of him. He became fed up with the abuse and made the decision to run away. Cops found him and took him to a station. Jennings was reluctant to tell them his name in fear that he was in big trouble. This psychological barrier of fear was broken down by an officer who was very kind to Jennings and talked to him on his level. Because of this event with the police, he knew further on in his life to trust them and knew that they meant the best for him. Without this event to give Jennings encouragement to talk to police, he would have tried to run away from the Daily’s. Then he would lack shelter and food that he was in great need of. Another psychological challenge was presented to jennings at the loss of his friend Mark. Jennings knew Mark since he started his journey being taken in and out of orphanages. Jennings was now alone in his new orphanage. He had great joy when he found out that Mark and him were placed in the same orphanage. Now that joy was shattered. After a month of grieving, Jennings gets called to go home with his brother Walter. Then he realizes that all the kids in the dining room wish that they could be him and how lucky he is to be able to have his name called to go home. This helps him cope with his grief and makes him realize not to always be down because it could always be worse. This lesson drives his determined attitude to survive. The largest challenge that Jennings faces occurs all throughout the novel. The unhappy household that Jennings has to live in is a burden on his mind. There is little time for Jennings to be happy at home. His mom broke her neck
The conflict that the individual faces will force them to reinforce and strengthen their identity in order to survive. In “The Cellist of Sarajevo” all the characters experience a brutal war that makes each of them struggle albeit in different ways. Each of them have their own anxieties and rage that eventually makes them grow as characters at the end of the book. When looking at what makes a person who they are it becomes obvious that the struggles they have faced has influenced them dramatically. The individual will find that this development is the pure essence of what it truly means to be
...en-year-old girl”. She has now changed mentally into “someone much older”. The loss of her beloved brother means “nothing [will] ever be the same again, for her, for her family, for her brother”. She is losing her “happy” character, and now has a “viole[nt]” personality, that “[is] new to her”. A child losing its family causes a loss of innocence.
O’Brien has many characters in his book, some change throughout the book and others +are introduced briefly and change dramatically during their time in war and the transition to back home after the war. The way the characters change emphasises the effect of war on the body and the mind. The things the boys have to do in the act of war and “the things men did or felt they had to do” 24 conflict with their morals burning the meaning of their morals with the duties they to carry out blindly. The war tears away the young’s innocence, “where a boy in a man 's body is forced to become an adult” before he is ready; with abrupt definiteness that no one could even comprehend and to fully recover from that is impossible.
Approximately, 17,000 Americans each year feel that the name they were given does not match their identity. The name a person is given is who they are, it is a way for the world to acknowledge them. At the start of World War II, the American government took a series of drastic measures aiming at Japanese Americans in the U.S., all Japanese Americans, no matter who they were, adults, women, or children, had been suspected spies. More than 120,000 Japanese Americans were sent to internment camps. This essay aims to study the comparison of the named and nameless characters in When the Emperor was Divine, through the analysis of their loss of identity. This analysis will also vividly show the suffering of the Japanese Americans during this time.
Throughout life people experience many different scenarios good or bad that ultimately results in the formation of the character of that person. Some of these experiences could be the death of a relative or the birth of a loved one which helps create a positive or a negative milestones in that person's life. However despite the sadness or happiness, these moments may bring people still manage to find a way to cope with the emotional baggage these moments result in order to continue to survive their everyday lives. Similar to how O'Brien, Rat Kiley, and Norman Bowker do throughout the war by finding different ways to help themselves overcome the pain of the emotional baggage that they carry within them. Therefore demonstrating that everyone
Overwhelmingly the response of people in times of desperation is to survive at all costs and make the best of the situation. American history in the mid 20th century provides vivid example of desperate times such as those who were hit hardest by the era of the depression and also those who were displaced from their homes into Internment camps following World War II and the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Comparing the fictional account of Julie Otsuka's novel, When the Emperor was Divine and the historical accounts of Japanese American women reveals the many different ways in which women handle themselves, not only through the events mentioned, but also through themes that both accounts share such as adversity, prejudice, and perseverance. The novel's account of the evacuation and imprisonment of Japanese American is a subtle and understated retelling of the horrific experience of the Japanese Americans. While the historical accounts describe the evacuation of Japanese Americans as one of the most horrifying experience anyone could have been through.
It gives facts and real life story living on this camp. This is actually someone real life story. When Jeanne dad left the family, the family could not bear. Living on the camps it was dusty, cold and windy. Jeanne states at the end that, “Even though her dad was a drunk, the way he drives—like a madman—actually inspires Jeanne with confidence to get past her fears of what life might be like outside of camp”. Growing up with all the racism remarks and surroundings was not easy and it has not been easy learning to remember and talk about her experience at the camp, but she overcame her fear. Jeanne has finally let it be free and be known. She now feels more better than ever about this. Also, even though Americans did not like Japanese she still married a
...ing identity to the point where it no longer exists. This identity can be lost through extreme devotion, new experience, and immense tragedy. Relationships with the most meaningful companions impact both main characters, Elie and Frederic. Due to the events they must encounter alongside loved ones, Elie and Frederic change completely, losing the identity that once existed. The most impactful events of any life are those that involve struggle and tragedy. Any tragic event that one encounters can significantly alter the purpose of life forever. Tragic events such as taking away what one may hold dearest, such as a loved one in the cases of Elie and Frederic. This type of loss can create a saddened, purposeless life in all humans.
Farewell to Manzanar, written by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, Japanese American, and James D. Houston, describes about the experience of being sent to an internment camp during World War II. The evacuation of Japanese Americans started after President Roosevelt had signed the Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942. Along with ten thousand other Japanese Americans, the Wakatsuki was sent on a bus to Manzanar, California. There, they were placed in an internment camp, many miles from their home with only what they could carry. The lives of the Japanese Americans in the internment was a struggle. But for some of the Japanese Americans, it was even harder after they were discharged from the internment camp. The evacuation and the internment had changed the lives of all Japanese Americans. The evacuation and internment affected the Wakatsuki family in three ways: the destruction of Papa’s self-esteem, the separation of the Wakatsuki family, and the change in their social status.
There were many events that happened in the past which people were fighting for their rights and freedoms. In the novel “When The Emperor Was Divine” by Julie Otsuka, she uses this novel to tell the readers about the importance of freedom and human right. In the story, she did not mention the name of the main characters, but the characters that involve in this novel is a Japanese family who get arrest by the American because of their ethnicities. First, their father got arrested by the American because the American doubted that this man was a spy from Japan. Then their whole family got arrested into the Japanese Concentration Camp in the desert. They were ordered not to go through the fence of the camp or else they will get kill by the soldiers who guarding the camp. This means that their freedoms were taken away by the camp. In the story, the girl’s personality was changed because of this camp. She starts to realize that this “camp” was nothing but a jail. So she started to give on her life and not to care about anything. She used to eat with her family, but now she never did; also she started to smoke cigarette in her ages of 14 to15. Also their human rights were being taken while their were in the camp. They were being force to admit to America for their loyalty. It makes all the Japanese people to feel low self-esteem for their identity. Therefore, the author uses this novel to show the changing of this family by the lack of freedom and human right.
Some individuals were not only sent to internment camps, but also detention camps, which altered their physical and mental state significantly. Many of these Japanese Americans were successful and prideful, until the camps became their new home. Ko Wakatsuki, Jeanne’s father, is an example of one of these individuals who was affected. Ko experienced a life-changing experience while in Fort Lincoln detention camp and at Manzanar internment camp. Ko was accused of disloyalty, spying, and was separated from his family for almost a year while he was in Fort Lincoln detention camp. When Ko returned to Manzanar to be with his family, he was hesitantly greeted and appeared different to his family. “He had been gone nine months. He had aged ten years. He looked over sixty, gaunt, wilted as his shirt, underweight leaning on a cane and favoring his right leg” (Manzanar 46). Jeanne’s description of her father describes the harsh environment and experiences Ko went through during his time spent at Fort Lincoln and Manzanar. When Ko returned he felt defeated, angry, and began drinking heavily. Ko experienced a downward emotional spiral because he felt as if everything he worked so hard for was taken from him. Ko did not feel worthy of himself, which led to his harsh words and actions toward his family. When Ko was forced to go to camp, he had to assimilate to a life that was unfamiliar; he
When you are born people are there to take care of you, love you, and guide you through life. As you grow up and life changes, you must take charge of your own life and not become so dependent on others. Throughout the course of life a person will encounter many changes, whether good or bad. In 'A&P';, 'The Secret Lion';, and 'A Rose for Emily';, the main characters in the stories are Sammy, the boys, and Miss Emily who face changes during their lives. All of these characters are in need of change. Because of their need for change, their lives will become much better. They are filled with wonder and awe about the world around them. No matter what type of person, everyone will encounter changes. It is part of the natural process. A person is encouraged to make these changes for the good. Sammy, the boys, and Miss Emily all encounter changes in their lives that fulfill their need to become something different.