Life In Japanese Internment Camps

When internees found out that they were free, you would expect that they would be happy and joyful, but they weren’t. Once they got back into their homes, and were free, there was still hatred shown toward them. They didn’t get paid in the camps, they had no insurance; and once they got back into their homes, they found broken windows, empty living rooms, and lost memories. But for some, they don’t want to live in a life of depression.They had just spent several years in the camps, and had the rest of their lives to spend. The two characteristics that allowed Japanese- Americans to survive and recover from the internment camps were denial and acceptance. The first characteristic, denial, was a common form of recovery for Japanese- Americans.

For instance, George Tsugawa, a former internee, says he has no hard feelings, and that the internment camps made them better people (Murphy 5). As a result, many Issei and Nissei, somewhat praise the internment camps and learned from it, rather than revolting or thrashing on the U.S. government. As a matter of fact, Jeanne Wakatsuki, actually returned to Manzanar, the camp she was in, and she had a different perspective after her trip (Houston 138). Before this action, Jeanne wasn’t able to tolerate the fact that her family had to suffer the camp; but now she was able to accept it, she looked at a more positive viewpoint, and now she is able to talk about it with her kids. To conclude, Woody Wakatsuki, became the head of his family when his dad was evacuated; he became a carpenter in the camp, and kept his family in check (Houston 60). It shows that Woody is accepting the the fact that he and his family are in the camps, and tries to make the most of the situations in a frustrating time. In the end, people started to realize that you can’t change the past, and you must accept it, even if it wasn’t a pleasant