Very quickly in the novel, it is expressed that Ichiro has an internal battle that he is currently dealing with. “Walking down the street that autumn morning with a small, black suitcase, he felt like an intruder in a world to which he had no claim.” (Okada, 1979, p. 1). The reader is given a glimpse of a man that feels unsettled and misplaced in a world that he has no place in. Ichiro starts off with the mindset of being defeated and unable to move on from his shame of being a no-no boy. The shame of refusing to go to serve in the military and being incarcerated. Where could he belong in a place that did not want him or respect him? Throughout the novel, Ichiro seems stuck in the perception that he does not deserve to move on from his misfortunes and build a prosperous life as an American. “This is America, which is for Americans. You have spent two years in prison to prove …show more content…
Early in the novel, Ichiro’s dysfunctional relationship with his mother is presented. “He looked at his mother and swallowed with difficulty the bitterness that threatened to destroy the last fragment of understanding for the woman who was his mother and still a stranger because, in truth, he could not know what it was to be a Japanese who breathed air of America and yet had never lifted foot from the land that was Japan.”(Okada, 1979, p.11). I feel this quote provides a strong image of the disconnect between Ichiro and his mother. Kenji played an important role in helping Ichiro see the value in his life and helped him attempt to grow from his situation. One point in the novel that stands out to me is the portion where Ichiro is speaking with Kenji in the hospital in Portland. While on his death bed Kenji expresses his desire for Ichiro to move on. “The kind of trouble you’ve got, you can’t run from it. Stick it through.”(Okada, 1979, p.163). This helps to show how Kenji wanted Ichiro to grow and become