"For it was true, they all looked alike. Black hair. Slanted eyes. High cheekbones. Thick glasses. Thin lips. Bad teeth. Unknowable. Inscrutable.
That was him, over there.
The little yellow man."
This passage struck me as an important one to highlight, as it helps to convey Otsuka’s message in a blunt manner. The description of the physical traits of the prisoners in the camp leaves no details up to the imagination. All of these prisoners are Japanese, and this quote calls to mind the fact that the United States government put these people in camps according to a certain background and phenotype, that is, their imprisonment is not based on actual guilt or suspicious activity but solely on physical characteristics that place them within a certain ethnic heritage.
Also, Otsuka opens up a discussion here about talking openly about race. These descriptors are words that we might normally shy away from in classroom settings for fear of offending someone, but they are descriptions that we all hear and use. By having the narrator's voice detail these descriptions, the author gives the reader the ability to start conversations about the way people look and the meanings we put to these characteristics. Finally, this passage begins to open up the subject of lost individuality and identity, a part of the psychological damage done in these camps, places where they stamped identification numbers on people.
"There were rules about language, too: Here we say Dining Hall and not Mess Hall; Safety Council, not Internal Police; Residents, not Evacuees; and last but not least, Mental Climate, not Morale.
There were rules about food: No second helpings except for milk and bread.
And books: No books in Japanese.
There were rules about religion: No Emperor-worshipping Shintos allowed. "
These sentences give us a vivid illustration of the conditions under which these Japanese Americans were living. The descriptions are important because they demonstrate the harsh psychological conditions that accompanied the difficult physical conditions of the camps. While prisoners were there specifically because of their shared heritage and culture, the policies and rules of the internment camps attempted to rid the camp community of any signs of Japanese culture. This was a form of attempted cultural “cleansing” that may have been just as bad of a punishment as the physical lifestyle restraints being put on the imprisoned. Also, note in the first paragraph the way the people were made to refer to certain things in a more politically correct and pleasant sounding version of the different aspects of the camp. Through the prisoners eyes, therefore, Otasuka helps us to see the control mechanisms employed by these camps so that even the freedoms of language and beliefs were symbolically removed from the prisoners’ lives.
I like the quotes you chose more than mine. You've pointed out excellent examples of loss of identity, the main 'theme' of the book (in my opinion). Referring to the first quote: It's true that those words are spoken behind invisible lines. Everyone notices it but no one mentions it unless it's among their own race.
ReplyDeleteI just want to add, these quotes affect me personally because I sort of grew up facing my differences (well everyone probably had some point in their life) and regulations that were indirectly placed in my life. For some reason to me it's interesting to see how you acknowledge what is being done to these people. I wish I had better words to explain what I mean but hopefully you can understand :/.