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

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Recommended: Expository essay on the auses of the policy of Japanese American internment during World War II

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 …show more content…

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

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The novella when the emperor was divine by Julia Otsuka is about a Japanese family’s survival during the time of world war two and internment camps although their family has been separated from their father. They continue to keep living their life and surviving the treacherous times. The book further uses symbols to show many depictions of hope, discrimination, and disconnection between many peoples relationships. But most importantly, Julia Otsuka uses names to demonstrate the loss of identity, ultimately suggesting how the internment disconnected themself from their identities. The effect of the internment on the family’s identity had changed from the beginning to the end of the novel.

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This parallels how the United States government hit the completely innocent Japanese-Americans with accusations of crimes, specifically espionage, that they did not commit. In the abstract of an interview conducted by Josephine Park, a professor of English and the Director of Asian American Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, Park confirms this innocence when she states, “not a single Japanese or Japanese-American in this country was ever found guilty of committing an act of sabotage or espionage” (Park para 1). In addition to the prior parallel, in the scene the woman says to the dog , “You’ve been a good white dog…hush…roll over…play dead” (Otsuka 11).

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Zarif Rahman Ms. Bacon English 9-1 5 April 2023 When Fear Takes Over: Alienation and Isolation in When the Emperor was Divine Imagine if someone far away from a person commits a crime and then that person is sent to prison just because they look like the criminal, and once they leave prison, they are treated as if they are a criminal. This is what the family is forced to experience in Julie Otsuka’s, When the Emperor was Divine. The family is expelled from their home after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and is sent to a Japanese internment camp.

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When the Emperor was divine is a very interesting book. It explains the story of the WW1 internment camps from the point of view of the Japanese people and what they went through. It also includes many forms of symbolism that can completely change the story’s meaning. It also tries to imply how “American” the Japanese-American internees really were.

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From the censored letters and untold experiences at the camps to the mysterious woman, so much in this novel remains unexplained. As a result of all these unknown elements, Otsuka seems to indicate that all others, irrespective of race or nationality, are fundamentally incomprehensible. Even if we are similar or close to another person, we will never be able to understand their true feelings or experiences. It is better to embrace this unknown than to fear it, as Otsuka suggests. As a result of this fear, thousands of innocent Japanese Americans were unjustly imprisoned, and this fear has led to untold tragedies throughout history—it motivated the Nazis to exterminate the Jewish population, and it still causes people today to label all Muslims as terrorists.

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In the beginning of the novel, otsuka describes how the mother of the family felt after being notified that they will be taken away to the camps. She doesn't show any emotions, once she sees the signs she goes straight into action, the mother knows that her family cannot take the dog with them to the camps, so she kills him with a shove, she released the bird as well. The bird was a sign of the mother losing hope, that bird was the last living thing that had her husband inside of it . MORE

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Like many children her age, the girl in Julie Otsuka’s novel When the Emperor was Divine had the opportunity to attend a “summer camp.” However, the camps that the girl and her family endured were not like traditional summer getaways but instead state-sponsored prisons designed to keep the populace “safe.” Instead of enjoying the water slides and rope swings that other children her age got to experience, the girl struggled with establishing an identity that fit with the rest of her society. With her use of neutral tone and language, Julie Otsuka explores the creation of the cultural identity that is established by the Japanese-American people as they are confined in Concentration camps designed to keep the nation safe. Pulled from their homes,

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The novel When the Emperor Was Divine tells a story of Japanese-American families during World War Two. During internment, the U.S. government rounded up many Japanese adults for investigation without first producing evidence that they committed any crimes. The father in this story has been arrested for the sane reason. Army would deport all Japanese Americans to military camps, thus commencing Japanese American internment. So, the woman with her girl and her boy have to move to a camp.

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This caused the US to move over 127,000 citizens of Japanese descent into relocation camps. Throughout When the Emperor was Divine, we see a family of four struggle through these unpleasant circumstances due to their Japanese descent. This family of

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Julie Otsuka’s When the Emperor was divine is a novel that takes place right after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In the beginning of the novel, the Japanese American family consists of a mother with her two children. They are in a turning point of their lives. There are posters and signs indicating that anyone with japanese ancestry must evacuate. Immediately the family starts feeling the rejection of their neighbors and people around them.

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The novel, When the Emperor was Divine, is written by Japanese American author, Julie Otsuka. It captures the tragic life experience of an ordinary Japanese American family during WWI and depicts how their identities and personalities shift by going through internment camps. At the time when the novel took place, the U.S. and Japan were on the opposite side of the war. The U.S. government feared that Japanese Americans may secretly support their original country. To eliminate that possibility, the U.S. government put all Japanese Americans with at least one-sixteenth of Japanese blood in internment camps, until the end of the war.

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