World War 2 Hegemonic Narrative

One of the most impactful events that have happened over history was World War 2. World War 2 was the conflict between different parts of the world. The U.S. eventually joined the war when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. The hegemonic narrative about the aftereffect of the bombing is that the government sent all people with Japanese heritage to an internment camp until the war was over to keep America safe. A hegemonic narrative is a narrative that comes from a place of power that is biased to protect their power. The counter narrative, which is the less bias narrative who actually experienced it, is that there has been a long history of racism against Japanese and asian people, and the government used the bombing as an excuse to lock up the Japanese

When the woman's family came to the internment camp, they got a identification number. “ The boy did not have a best friend but he had a pet tortoise that he kept in a wooden box filled with sand right next to the barrack window. He had not give the tortoise a name but he had scratched his family’s identification number into its shells with the tip of his mother's nail file (60).” The boy gave the tortoise the family’s identification number as a name. This is symbolic because is shows the dehumanization of the internment camps and how the boy internalizes the dehumanization through giving the tortoise the family’s identification number as a name. The author writes “... scratched his family’s identification number into its shells with the tip of his mother's nail file” to show that the boy isn’t the only one is being dehumanized, the mother is to.The woman is becoming depressed because of the dehumanization by the government because she isn’t treated as a human and is making her stressed. At the internment camp, she was having a hard time adjusting. “ Most days she didn’t leave her room at all. She sat by the stove for hours, not talking. In her lap lay a half-finished letter. An unopened book… In her mind there were always men at the door. We just need to ask your husband a few questions. (93-94)”. The woman stays home all day and has memories of the government taking her husband. The

When she got back from the internment camp, many of the people were not accepting and perpetuated stereotypes. “ We look at ourselves in the mirror and did not like what we saw : Black hair, yellow skin, slanted eyes. The cruel face of our enemy, we were guilty. Just put it behind you. No good. Let it go. A dangerous people. You’re free now. Who could never be trusted again. All you have to do is behave (120)”. The author expresses how they look like in the mirror. This also symbolizes how other people see Japanese, in a stereotypical way. The reason why they see the Japanese this way is because they have internalized how other people see Japanese so they decide that they will see them that way. The author writes, “ You’re free now. Who could never be trusted again.” to show that they are blaming the Japanese people for bombing. This person is saying that the Japanese deserved the interment. This connects to the mother becoming depressed because it shows that they weren’t easily accepted because of who they are. The mother wasn’t the only person in the family who wasn’t accepted easily, the whole family experienced it. “ Or maybe they were afraid. (Later, we would learn that the postman, Mr. Denardo, had told them that anyone who wrote to us was guilty of helping the enemy. Those people bombed Pearl Harbor! They deserved what they got (121).” The postman is saying that all Japanese took part in the