No matter what you go through, what you look like, or what others see you, your heart and soul will remain the same forever. The message given to the family is clear: never change who you are, even when facing life's challenges. In the novel, When The Emperor Was Divine the American government breaks up a Japanese American family due to the assumption that Japanese Americans were involved with the planning and execution of Pearl Harbor. In the novel, Julie Otsuka uses the motif of the color white. To represent the purity and innocence of all people Although a person's heritage is where they come from, that doesn't mean they will follow the same ideals. A person's true identity will never truly change and is always innocent and pure, even through …show more content…
A small white dog came limping out of the trees. Eat up, White dog,” she said. The white dog was old and ailing but he knew how to eat.”(Otsuka 10)” She lifted it swiftly high into the air with both hands”...” The white dog’s body shuddered twice and his hind legs kicked.”(Otsuka 11). The white dog stayed loyal to his nurturer until his very end, similar to how the Japanese Americans stayed American throughout their persecution after Pearl Harbor and never changed their identity to be just American or only Japanese. They stayed a combination of both, mixing the two cultures they grew up in and thrived in. The Dog and Japanese Americans are truly represented by the color white in how their true identity is never tarnished. The significance of being true to yourself is always important, even when in the trials of life that try to change you. The girl has a dream about a wild White stallion roaming free and then being captured. “She imagined a cowboy snapping his fingers and a horse, a wild white stallion, galloping up to him in a cloud of hot swirling dust.”(Otsuka 29). The girl having a dream of a wild horse losing his total freedom shows that she fears the same for her and her family, just as her father was taken away so long