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They Called Us Enemy, By George Takei

906 Words4 Pages

During World War I, many Japanese Americans were forced out of their homes and into internment camps. This part of U.S. history marked severe times of injustice and resilience within the Japanese American community. In the book “They Called Us Enemy,” George Takei documents his and his family's experiences during the internment. George Takei uses words, pictures, and symbols to convey themes of hope, injustice, and family, highlighting that Japanese Americans stayed strong and connected during internment. In the book “They Called Us Enemies,” the author uses words and pictures to show hope and optimism even during the difficult times of the internment. One example of this is when the families at the camp celebrated Christmas. Despite the hard …show more content…

George Takei is able to capture the dehumanizing process of being forced to relocate and stripping them of basic human rights as shown on page (36) when he writes “We were loaded onto trains headed east, but not before being “tagged” to keep track of us like cattle.” The specific quote “tagged to keep track of us like cattle,” is a very powerful phrase because it compares the treatment of Japanese Americans to livestock further showing the loss of their human rights. The imagery the author uses on page (36) shows readers the injustice the Japanese Americans faced, primarily focusing on the brutal aspects of their internment. By including comparisons, Takei can emphasize the dehumanizing experiences of the Japanese Americans. Furthermore, another example of injustice is the loyalty questionnaire which confused Japanese Americans. They were asked to swear loyalty to a country that had already betrayed them as shown on page (116) where Takei writes, “Question 27 asked him to serve in combat for a country that had rejected and then imprisoned him because of his ethnicity.” The quote shows the difficult decisions the Japanese Americans had to face who were being asked to swear loyalty to a country that had treated them unfairly. The specific phrase “serve in combat for a country that had rejected and then imprisoned him because of his ethnicity” shows the irony of the situation

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