The Loss Of Identity In When The Emperor Was Divine

Ryland J. Harrell

Mrs. Vermillion

Honors English 10

25 March 2023

Conflicts of When the Emperor was Divine The path to freedom from suffering is by accepting the natural order of life and with it the possibility of unpleasant circumstances. In December 1941, the Japanese decided to bomb Hawaii. This historical action was known as Pearl Harbour. Many Americans, in a worried state from Pearl Harbor, feared the possibility that men and women from Japanese ancestry were spies for Japan. 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

The internment camps’ rough conditions cause a loss of identity in the family due to how this family has to adapt to their environment and they grow into bad habits. The boy notices these changes as he watches his sister slowly change ”she smoked cigarettes, I could smell them in her hair”(Osuka 92). Being put into a bad situation it is only human nature to follow what the others do, causing the daughter to do things she never even thought of doing. The girl shows her innocence slowly fades by smoking cigarettes. The daughter is slowly mentally adapting to the environment , causing her to lose her innocent identity without noticing. The relocation camps setting caused many to change by its conditions. Consequently, in When the Emperor was Divine the boy also experiences loss of identity showing rebellion. When the boy walks by the guard he says things that could get him in trouble “ Hirohito, Hirohito, Hirohito” (Otsuka 52). The boy, in an unfair situation, decides to in a way rebel against the guards. The boy's rebellious attitude symbolizes his disagreement of how the US as a whole is treating the Japanese. This circumstance put him in a state of rebellion which I believe changes him throughout the story eventually proving how the victims of the relocation camps can't escape from their past

In When the Emperor was Divine the boy decides to take in a tortoise as a pet. After the tortoise doesn't get proper care, the tortoise passes. This causes the son to experience guilt throughout the story, consequently, withdrawing his innocence slowly ”My fault thought the boy, but he had not told a soul”(Otsuka 82). The guilt the boy experiences shows in a way how he feels shame on himself, and possibly keeping it to himself afraid of what others might think. Not only does the son experience guilt throughout the story. In When The Emperor was divine, the father experiences guilt by the situation his wife is in. Making a promise to keep the mom out of work, allowing her to never work “You’ll never have to work”(Otsuka 136). Years later the dad sits in the house as the wife is on her way back from work. The dad was in guilt after he had told his wife she wouldn't have to work and couldn't fulfill that promise. How they react to these scenarios shows how they are