Julie Otsuka's When The Emperor Was Divine

The Rosebush
Julie Otsuka’s story, “When the Emperor was Divine,” illustrates what calamities an unnamed Japanese American family lived through during, and after being sent to an internment camp by the American government. The story takes place after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, when America was engulfed in a rise of “yellow peril” emitting a widespread fear of Japanese people across the country. Every chapter is see through the eyes of a different family member and gives the readers details about how differently each character was affected by the events that unfolded around them. Rather than explaining what the characters felt, Otsuka used symbolism to enumerate the hidden themes within the story, such as with the use of the woman’s rosebush. In the fourth chapter, Otsuka uses the rosebush as a symbol of the family’s former lives, and how that freedom was stolen from them, never to be found again.

The woman, boy and girl were sent to a camp called Topaz, where they live miserable meaningless lives for over three years. The camp stripped them of their identities and status, and stunted a crucial period of growth for both the boy, eight, and the girl, eleven. However once they were finally set free and returned to their home, they realized the life they wished was waiting for them was destroyed while they were away. They return in May, when the flowers are all in bloom, and like most of their belongings the children notice that their mother’s rosebush has been taken from their yard. They searched other’s gardens and inspected other bushes, but never came across their mother’s. However even after not finding it, they imagine it blooming in someone else’s