Japanese Internment In Julie Otsuka's 'When The Emperor Was Divine'

Sarah A. Allen
Mrs. Vermillion
Honors English 10
14 March 2023
Japanese Internment And Its Parallels With Nature And Animals
The imprisonment of Japanese-Americans that occurred during WWII altered thousands of lives and the societal perception of an entire ethnicity. Many of the captured were born or naturalized US citizens who had been living peaceful and plentiful lives, free to do as they please, until that freedom was stolen from them for the next 3-4 years. After their release, the mistreatment and discrimination they faced made it seem as though they never left the camps at all, and the divide between white Americans and the Japanese-Americans ran far longer than the war. In Julie Otsuka’s novel When the Emperor was Divine, she uses

Perhaps the clearest expressions of the idea of freedom vs. captivity and inequality being explored are the pets. Shortly after seeing the government notice that she would have to pack up and leave for the camps, the woman returns home to do so and to make sure that the animals in her care are dealt with as it said no pets were allowed. She gives their cat to a neighbor, but opts to kill the chicken that ran wild in their backyard, “[snapping] its neck beneath the handle of a broomstick,”(Otsuka 9), and also to put the sick and old white dog out of its misery, “[lifting a shovel] high above her head with both hands and [bringing] the blade down swiftly with both hands”(Otsuka 10). The contrasting treatments of the animals could represent the contrasting treatment of the white American citizens and the Japanese-Americans during the time of WWII. The killings express the freedom being taken from them, and the cat being given to another neighbor to be taken care of shows how all of the other US citizens helped each other during the war, yet seemingly forgot about the Japanese-Americans that were taken away. The other pet that was dealt with was the bird. The woman sets it free out of the window the same night that she kills the chicken and the dog and gives the cat away. The issue is that the bird is heavily reluctant to leave. “The bird [steps] cautiously onto her hand…She opened the window and set the bird out on the ledge…closed his eyes…the bird was outside on the other side of the glass. He tapped the pane 3 times with his claw…The bird spread his wings and flew up into the maple tree. She grabbed the broom…went outside and shook the branches of the tree… ‘Go,’ she shouted…the bird…flew off into the night”(Otsuka 19-20). The bird is the strongest representation of the theme in the novel. It was taken into captivity by the family and put in a cage