Analysis Of No-No Boy By John Okada

John Okada’s novel, No-No Boy examines the legacies of Japanese internment on the Japanese community through the viewpoints of many characters. Three of those characters, Itchiro Yamada, Kenji Kanno, and Mrs. Yamada, Itchiro’s mother, each possess different views on the impacts of internment on the their lives, as each played a different role. Itchiro was a no-no boy, Kenji was a yes-yes boy, and Mrs. Yamada was an interned Japanese woman.

Itchiro Yamada, the protagonist of the novel, was a no-no boy, something referring to two questions on a loyalty questionnaire Japanese Americans had to answer, one of which asked if they would serve America in the military and the other asking if they would denounce the Japanese emperor and pledge their

While Kenji does achieve the American Dream although it comes at a cost, Itchiro has the chance to achieve it, and Mrs. Yamada never achieves it. The American Dream is thought to be the idea of people becoming Americans, with the opportunities associated with the title, as well as the freedom, liberties, and rights attached by the Constitution. Kenji, the yes-yes boy of the novel, does achieve the American Dream. He drives a Cadillac, is a war veteran, and has American-based possessions, including “A medal, a car, a pension, even an education. Just for packing a rifle.” (60). However, he paid for the American Dream with his body and blood, through the form of his leg. Kenji’s leg was injured in the war, and he has had to have it cut. He loses a few inches and a few years of his lives every time he revisits the doctor, and eventually dies from an infection caused by the leg. This is symbolic of the cost of the American Dream, and the impossibility of achieving it if one is a Japanese-America, as it can be representative of Kenji cutting out the Japanese-ness from his body. This is something that ties into Mrs. Yamada’s beliefs as well. Mrs. Yamada never achieves the American Dream. She lived in American and was interned. However, she never got over the abandonment of the country that should have supported her, but instead interned her. As such, she commits suicide by

Readers get a sense of how deep the internalized racism runs within the Japanese community by Itchiro’s interaction with Eto, one of his former friends form before internment. Eto feels ashamed of Itchiro’s no-no boy status and spits on him, with the promise that he’ll urinate on him the next time they encounter each other. However, Itchiro’s lasting legacy of internment, his self-loathing rears its’ head at the hatred Eto spews at him, “The hate-churned eyes with the stamp of unrelenting condemnation were his cross and he had driven the nails with his own hands.” (3-4) Itchiro’s comment is one that alludes to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, with the reference to the cross and nails, and he thinks that this is a part of his punishment for being a no-no