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A Comparison Of The Themes In Merican By Dwight Okita

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Recommended: Essays about immigrant stories

Hezikiyah Fandrey

English 11 B

3/17/2023

A Comparison of the Themes in “Mericans” by Sandra Cisneros and “Order 9066” by Dwight Okita

The two texts I will be comparing are "In Response to Executive Order 9066: All Americans of Japanese Descent Must Report to Relocation Centers" by Dwight Okita and "Mericans" by Sandra Cisneros. The narratives of these texts all share the theme of remembering one's culture. The common theme is that your cultural identity can be replaced. In this essay, I will be proving that this common theme applies to both of them.

The reasons why they can be compared are that they are just similar narratives. For one, they have similar details. Also, their characters are similar to each other. Finally, their descriptive writing styles are similar. These are the reasons why "Mericans" and "Order 9066" can be compared. …show more content…

While she is being strict, we can use indirect characterization to figure out that she is just trying to protect her grandchildren as much as possible. In "Order 9066," the guardian archetype hints at the loss of his daughter’s Japanese culture and her acceptance of American culture. He hints at this by saying, "Where we’re going, they won’t grow." They are referring to the tomato seed packets when they say "they won't grow." The tomato seed packets are a symbol of love because the character Denise, who is the narrator’s friend, calls them "love apples." In "Mericans," it literally says, "We’re Mericans, we’re Mericans, and inside the awful grandmother

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Okita argues that despite acculturation, nationalism weighs more when deeming threats to national security. Perhaps the most recognizable clues in identifying the context of the poem are observed in the title itself, “Executive Order 9066” as well as in the dedication in which it is stated that, “All Americans of Japanese descent must report to relocation centers.” The historical context is crucial to understanding the poem, Executive Order 9066 was issued on February 14, 1942 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, three-months after the Japanese military attacked the U.S Pearl Harbor Naval Base in Hawaii. This attack inflicted fear about national security and authorized the incarceration of Japanese Americans, “nearly 70,000 [being] American citizens” (National Archives). Regardless of their status, the United States deemed their race as a great enough reason to classify them as antagonists during these turbulent times.

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