Kaitlin Weldy Mrs. Rogers ENG L202 1 Mar. 2023 Importance of Symbolism When the Emperor was Divine is written by Julie Otsuka who writes about her family members who indured life in the Internment Camps during World War II. One element of plot Otsuka uses in her novel is symbolism. Symbols such as slippers, stains, and animals were all important symbols used by Ostuka in her novel. Why might Otsuka uses these symbols such as animals in her novel? There are many answers to this question and one answer might be that the animals represent the Japanese people themselves. Although that could be an answer, in this paper, the focus is on the wrongful penalty Japanese families suffered during the Internment Camps. Otsuka seems to use animals to symbolize …show more content…
“These were things they could take with them: bedding and linen, forks, spoons, plates, bowls, cups, clothes. These were the words she has written down on the back of the bank receipt. Pets were not allowed. That was what the sign had said” (Otsuka). These people were United States citizens with a decent from Japanese. All the rights and freedom that the United States provides was taken away from them. They were given a list as to what the were allowed to bring; somewhat like a list you were given before going to church camp. However, this camp was not an enjoyable one. The pets they had were killed or given away because they listened to what their government told them to do. The unamed mother gave the cat to the neighbors which symbolizes what the Japanese did when they were sent to Internment Camps. The had to leave everything behind and live in a different atmosphere just as the cat did. The “white dog” as the book reveals is the family pet who is now old and going blind. “The women was his mistress and he did whatever she asked. She put on her white silk goves and took out a roll of twine” (Otsuka). After killing the dog the mother put the dead dog and her gloves that were not white anymore into a hole in the ground. The white gloves the mother used to kill the dog symboizes getting …show more content…
The wild mustangs illustrate freedom that the family is longing for as they are on their way to the camp. The wild mustangs also symbolize the United States. The United States is a free country and these Japanese families moved here to be free and now they are on a train going to an unknown place with which they had no choice of going or