When The Emperor Was Divine

The novel when the emperor was divine by Julia Otsuka shows the lives of a Japanese family during World War II, and the struggles they endure. These struggles were shared among many Japanese families in the U.S. during this time. The hardships this family faces change their personalities drastically and plays with there grasp on the real world.

“I will never forget the shocking feeling that human beings were behind this fence like animals. And we were going to also lose our freedom and walk inside of that gate and find ourselves…cooped up there…when the gates were shut, we knew that we had lost something that was very precious; that we were no longer free," said Mary Tsukamoto, a survivor of the internment camps and now a Japanese American educator. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the government made the decision to relocate all of the Japanese Americans to internment camps as it was said they were disloyal and would betray the United States. In the Internment camps the internees were put through horrendous condition and were forced to leave everything behind and under the circumstance some individuals had psychological issues.

The Japanese-American author, Julie Otsuka, wrote the book When the Emperor was Divine. She shares her relative and all Japanese Americans life story while suffering during World War II, in internment camps. She shares with us how her family lived before, during, and after the war. She also shares how the government took away six years of Japanese-American lives, falsely accusing them of helping the enemy. She explains in great detail their lives during the internment camp, the barbed wired fences, the armed guards, and the harsh temperatures. When they returned home from the war they did not know what to believe anymore. Either the Americans, which imprisoned them falsely, or the emperor who they have been told constantly not to believe, for the past six years imprisoned. Japanese-Americans endured a great setback, because of what they experienced being locked away by their own government.

In When the Emperor was Divine, the author, Julie Otsuka, uses her choice of narrator to represent the overall image of Japanese Americans throughout the war. At the beginning of the first chapter, the narrator is the mother who is very proper and clearly trying to fit in. This is demonstrative of how Japanese Americans were treated like any other citizen before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. After the attack, the Japanese Americans became isolated and hated and were forced to leave their homes. When the mother receives an evacuation notice, she has to pack up and hide all of her family's possessions. The family has an old dog and she decides that she has no choice but to kill it. The Americans saw anyone with Japanese heritage as brutes who have no compassion and it is this belief that causes the mother to have to commit and brutal action. By using the mother as the first narrator, Otsuka depicts the change of the overall opinion of the Japanese Americans.

War. It is something that plagues our everyday lives as it has for many millennia, but the question that always arises is, why does it happen? Many say it’s due to religion and government, and while those are both true, the answer is truly found in the metaphorical roots of culture. In literature, the idea is addressed often through the actions of characters, not so much the general conflict of the story. The pieces “When the Emperor Was Divine” and Things Fall Apart by Julie Otsuka and Chinua Achebe, respectively, perfectly illustrate just how culture can be disrupted and how it is the characters’ actions that lead to these disruptions. Mainly, it is the elements of fear, miscommunication, and the White Man’s instinctual need for power, that

In February 1942, President Franklin Roosevelt issued the Executive Order 9066 to allow the internment of more than one hundred thousands people of Japanese heritage living on the west coast of the United States. In the midst of World War II, F.D.R. instituted this order following popular opinion and poor advice from his cabinet. This dismal decision was made in the wake of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, as Anti-Japanese paranoia was increasing. This terrible event left a scar on the rather spotless-at least to the public eye- profile of the United States. There were many factors that led to this rather severe course of action. Unfortunately, history has the tendency to repeat itself and the current political climate predicts such harsh precautions to be reproduced. Internment has a chance to reappear once more considering the current political climate especially around Muslims and Terrorism against the U.S.

During wartime usually there are casualties. Casualties are people who are injured and or killed during war. It can also refer to someone who gets injured and killed during an accident. Just as the japanese American war had many casualties, there were many movies, books, and film made out of this war. One of the many books that were written is “When the Emperor was Divine.” A movie that had been about casualties of war is “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.” A movie about children who are helping one another in camp and they get sent to the gas chambers to get killed and die. Another video or film shows some casualties of war is “Daughter from Danang.” It is about how mixed children would get killed or their parents send them away to America to

As a young child, I lived life colorblind, unable to grasp the concept of race or skin color. Growing up in Florida as the only Asian in my elementary school and never being bullied for being different, I assumed everyone was white, including me. But then came that earth-shattering epiphany: I realized I wasn’t white. I started to notice that not every supermarket sold Pocky or bubble tea and that it’s not common to get money in shiny, red envelopes on New Year’s. I realized that not everyone knew how to use chopsticks, that not everyone ate rice with every meal, and that when some people spoke slowly to me, it’s not because they were trying to articulate, but because they thought I didn’t understand English.

In Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe, Okonkwo faces a lot of different challenges in his life. When he returned to his motherland after being exiled everything he knew was different. In the end he could no longer overcome the challenges and he chose to end his life. He rebelled against change in his religion, faced racism, and struggled with complications in his life style. This novel suggests that we see things fall apart when people choose to judge others based on their religion, race, and lifestyle.

Culture collision is not something that you hear about everyday. Culture collision is the clash of cultures or values. This can be triggered by many things and the way we react to it is due to our personality. When this does occur it can impact our lives in such a great way. It can have an affect on who we are and what we stand for. In the novel “Things Fall Apart” by Chinua Achebe we take a look at the character Okonkwo and see how he is affect by his Culture collision and see that his personality is the the factor in the way he reacts to it.

The reason for this reflection is to review what has happened in a deeper level than just summarizing what has happened over the course of this project. During the weeks learned some things, not just from the book that I was reading, but also from participating in a group. The lessons I learned led to my group being successful in the few goals that were created. All of the goals were met in different ways whether it would be just finishing the book or us getting up in front of the whole class to present the google slides that we created.

Change is a reoccurring theme throughout history. It destroys and creates. It displaces and introduces. It can cause death and life. The movement of imperialism in Africa brought great change to the native tribal life. Forcing the indigenous people to turn away from their century-old traditions caused violent rifts between the European settlers and the tribes, as well as internal problems between once amiable members of the Ibo culture. With the introduction of the foreign Western Society in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, the tribe’s life and ideals are drastically altered as the new ethics and principles collide with the old traditions and laws, causing the members of the society to either adapt or be crushed underneath the foot of colonialism. Achebe’s character, Okonkwo, was impacted immensely by the cultural collision, as his previous way of life was pulverized before his eyes, and he found no reason to live any longer.

In a culture, there are often several different morals or beliefs that shape the culture. For one to only know a single culture their entire life, and suddenly receive exposure to a new one can stir new ideas and many questions. However, in many cultures expectations and certain beliefs as well as customs, can get in the way of experiencing a new culture. The way that a character responds to new cultural ideas or collisions can cause them to change the overall message of the story, along with their personal identity.

Chinua Achebe’s critically acclaimed novel Things Fall Apart tells the story of a decorated and powerful chief of the Igbo village tribe named Okonkwo. Okonkwo is a strong independent man who came up from nothing in his life and refused to return to earth as the same way he started, he believed he was destined for greatness. Perhaps Okonkwo’s most driving factor for this is his father died a beggar and he became disgusted how his father went out with no achievements or accomplishments to his name. Okonkwo is very prideful as a result of his humble upbringing and believes that the only way one can be successful is through Old Ways of the Igbo Tribe. As a result, Okonkwo is hell-bent

In Things Fall Apart there are many cultural collisions created by the introduction of Western ideas into Ibo culture. One example of a cultural collision caused by the introduction of Western ideas into Ibo culture is when Okonkwo’s first son, Nwoye converts to Christianity. This causes a cultural collision between Okonkwo and Nwoye because Nwoye wants to become a Christian, but Okonkwo doesn’t like the white men or Christianity. This cultural collision is caused by the white men bringing in western ideas to Ibo culture. This collision is very important to the book because it leads to the destruction of Okonkwo and fuels his anger. This collision shapes the meaning of the novel as a whole by symbolizing many things