Identity In Julia Otsuka's When The Emperor Was Divine

Identity is multifaceted, molded by the emotions, perceptions, and, perhaps most dominantly, current circumstances of an individual, for as these circumstances become increasingly challenging and demanding, one’s identity can correspondingly become tangled and twisted. In Julia Otsuka’s When the Emperor Was Divine, a nameless Japanese-American family originally living in Berkeley, CA during World War II is sent to an internment camp in Topaz, UT and remains there for three years. Through their experiences of being evacuated from their home, not only do they face a multitude of challenges within the internment camp itself, but they are also forced to confront the duality of their identity as Japanese-American citizens and the discrimination

The father explains why he admitted to crimes which he did not in fact commit, saying aggravatedly, “I was tired. I was thirsty. I was scared” (140). Through the use of terse, abbreviated sentences, combined with the use of anaphora, the father’s exasperation is revealed—he cannot even think to vary his sentence structure, conveying how fed up he is with being distrusted and interrogated. That the narrative voice is first-person singular also reflects the intensity of his exasperation, as the reader is brought closer and closer to his inner emotions. In comparison to the third-person omniscient limited narrator of the woman’s chapter and even the first-person plural narrative voice of the children’s chapter, the first-person singular narrative voice magnifies the force of the man’s emotions. In the same vein, the man’s intense exasperation reflects the fed-up sentiments of all interned Japanese-Americans during World War II and the irreversible consequences which tormented them. The father continues, admitting to countless “crimes” against the United States government of which he could not have possibly been guilty, and says bitterly, “There. That’s it. I’ve said it. Now can I go?” (144). The short, brief length of his sentences reflects how exasperated the father is with the distrust of Japanese-American citizens, one of them being himself. He cannot even bring himself to use full sentences, reflecting his exasperation and even irritation regarding his current circumstances. As before, the first-person singular narrative voice amplifies the man’s thoughts for the reader, highlighting and intensifying his exasperation. His