Julie Otsuka's When The Emperor Was Divine

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, America felt exposed as potential dangers, now realized, ominously lurked along the home front. False reports of Japanese espionage spread rapidly, fueling hostility, fear, and racial prejudice. In an Executive Order signed by president Roosevelt, America responded, removing Japanese-Americans from their homes and shackling them within internment camps. Relocation was not optional but essential for survival. Based on the experiences of close family members, Julie Otsuka, in her novel entitled When the Emperor was Divine, captures the transition of a nameless Japanese-American family from normalized citizens to ostracized foreigners. Oasis to desert, her vivid imagery nuances a deeper sense

At night the mother, exhausted from her rushed labor, lies down – her mind still toiling, actively contemplating the uncertainty of tomorrow’s departure.

“Thunder had come and gone and except for the sound of rain the house was now quiet. The woman lay awake worrying about the leaky roof. Her husband had meant to fix it but never did. She got up and placed a tine bucket on the floor to catch the water. […] She whispered a silent prayer to herself and drifted off to sleep as the water dripped steadily into the bucket” (21).

Originally turbulent, the storm subsides giving way to the soothing pitter-patter of rain. The sentences, “The woman lay awake worrying about the leaky roof. Her husband had meant to fix it but never did. She got up and placed a tin bucket on the floor to catch the water,” nuance the mother’s anxiety which overshadows the calm rain pouring atop the house. The restful rain covers the house possibly symbolizing the protection of freedom, yet ironically the mother possesses little control over the family’s future. By morning, the mother knows the family will depart from their home, leaving liberty

The initial sentences employ the use of adjectives, such as “endless” and “overflowing,” which characterize the envisioned water as infinite and abundant (59). Freedom, like water, is fluid, flowing without bounds and restrictions. Freedom, like water, is natural and necessary, not manmade. The sentence, “He saw the ancient salt lake floating above the floor of the desert,” describes a lake that existed during a time when “there were no fences,” or oppression (59). Thirsting for a sip of home, freedom, and the sea, the boy imagines a peculiar lake stuck in an environment void of moisture. Amidst the juxtaposition of these two images, water and desert, the lake washes the arid earth, resembling the cleansing ability of freedom. Yet in reality, the ancient lake has vanished, becoming merely a disheartening reminder of lost freedom. Therefore, the young boy, in his dream, yearns for a metaphorical liberty which sustains and refreshes like the