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Racial Stereotypes In Julie Otsuka's When The Emperor Was Divine

838 Words4 Pages

Effects of Racial Stereotypes in Literature Stereotypes can leave a person receiving it in a state of guilt. Being stereotyped can feel like the whole society is against that person. In a racist society, there is a lot of stereotyping. In Julie Otsuka’s book When the Emperor was Divine, the family is forced to be confined to internment camps due to a racist society. Not doing anything wrong, the family questions their identity and is torn physically and mentally even once they leave the internment camp. When the family is home from the camp, they feel like they have to act properly so society will accept them. Julie Otsuka uses a person versus society to reveal a feeling of guilt. A racist society can lead to a loss of identity, fear, and a …show more content…

The family packs their bags, not knowing where they are being forced to go. Before they get on the train, they are forced to give up their names and only be known by their identification number. “They would pin their identification numbers to their collars and grab their suitcases and climb up onto the bus and go to wherever it was they had to go”(Otsuka 22). Given the identification numbers, they lose their identity and are known not for their name but a number. The family is forced to live in their current situation due to being treated like outcasts by the society they live in. Julie Otsuka shows how when a society is turned against you, it can be hard to adapt and remain in harsh situations. When cast out by society, a loss of identity isn’t the only emotion one can feel. A person can feel fear in a place outside their comfort zone. The father returns home and still reflects on the fear he experienced being in jail. “It was five minutes past curfew and he was trapped outside, in the world on the wrong side of the fence”(Otsuka 137). The father explains his experience of being on the wrong side of

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