Analysis Of Japanese Internment During World War II: Impounded By Dorothea Lange

Japanese internment during World War II was a tragic and devastating event that occurred and in the book, “Impounded” by Dorothea Lange, internment is properly brought to attention and discussed thoroughly. The fact that Japanese internment is underdiscussed in many and most History courses goes to show that it is something that the United States want to forget. As stated in the book, it is something that the United States should never forget because it has a very real chance of happening again. Within the book, Lange’s photographs most definitely reflect the experiences that were described by Okihiro in his essay. There are several instances of exactly what was described by Okihiro in vivid detail. Before one can delve into these experiences

It shows how they were just stables that were meant to house horses and not families of people. Okihiro recounts the story of Osuke Takizawa. He states that the government must have recently moved out the horses and shuffled the Japanese in there because it smelled atrocious and made them feel terrible. To them it felt like prison since there were armed guards and barbed wire. He also notes that he felt helpless given their situation. There are several images of Lange’s that exhibit this almost perfectly. Page 136 shows the barbed wire in place and pages 142 and 143 show the stables and how low quality they were, demonstrating just how unfit for living they were. Since Lange did not like using artificial lighting, we do not get to see the inside of the stables that much, but one can tell from the outside that it was not any sort of

This was displayed through the analysis of several different accounts of the internment experience such as the accounts and images of the astounding amount of luggage being shipped to camps, the living conditions of the internment camps, and the changes the Japanese made to try to counteract the poor conditions of their new homes. However, there is an issue in regards to the comparison of the essay and the photographs. The words that Okihiro used to effectively describe the situation of the Japanese were much more defined and clear compared to the images of Dorothea Lange. The unclearness could be misconstrued as the Japanese being happy since they were smiling in some of their pictures. This is better explained in the text as it was the only way to remain sane. Overall, the photographs accurately reflect Okihiro’s essay and show the horrors of Japanese internment during the World War 2