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Introduction to culture shock
Merits and demerits of Culture Shock
Introduction to culture shock
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“What is the role of self-deception in human growth and development”
In 1945, the American Red Cross delivered 1550 parcels of food and other goods to a Japanese internment camp of 1450 people located in North China. The Japanese planned to disperse the packages equally among the people. Of the people in the camp, two hundred were American. Some of the Americans thought they deserved more since the parcels were from their country so the Japanese planned to divide the extra 100 parcels among them. However, many of the Americans were not satisfied and thought they deserved all of the parcels.
Langdon Gilkey, a young professor who kept a diary of living in this camp, initially thought that this was a minority view. There was a meeting about it in which he realized that many people felt this way. They had rationalized it out and convinced themselves that it was the morally correct for the Americans to receive the American parcels. This incident, along with others concerning life, food, property, and space pointed out fundamental aspects of human nature to Gilkey. In Gilkey’s book, Shantung Compound, he stresses the importance of morality in any society or community, but also the tendency for self deception. People often twist their perceived morals to justify their own self interest.
Before living in the internment camp, Gilkey had initially gone back and forth between a liberal Christian worldview and a humanistic view. Gilkey thought that man was a good and rational being. After all that he had witnessed in the internment camp, Gilkey came out with the view that at the core man is self serving. This is a survival tool that can be both good and harmful.
In the case of the parcels it was harmful. In cases of housing people i...
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It is important to realize that people deceive themselves all the time. It is exposed most visibly when people are placed in a new situation and exposed to things that don’t match up to their old worldview. This is a point of growth where a person must decide what they think about it. The most frightening part is that a person might deceive himself. For Gilkey, a person should be the most careful of the self deception because of self interest.
Overall, Gilkey thought that though most people who lived in the camp wouldn’t admit it, it was beneficial to him and others to be exposed to the fundamentals of living and humanity. It was an experience of growth and change that rapidly happened the way it does not for most people. He felt that it was very useful to see how his observation of humans still played out in the world outside of the internment camp.
Irish Playwright, George Bernard Shaw, once said, “The worst sin toward our fellow creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them; that's the essence of inhumanity.” Inhumanity is mankind’s worse attribute. Every so often, ordinary humans are driven to the point were they have no choice but to think of themselves. One of the most famous example used today is the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel’s memoir Night demonstrates how fear is a debilitating force that causes people to lose sight of who they once were. After being forced into concentration camps, Elie was rudely awakened into reality. Traumatizing incidents such as Nazi persecution or even the mistreatment among fellow prisoners pushed Elie to realize the cruelty around him; Or even the wickedness Elie himself is capable of doing. This resulted in the loss of faith, innocence, and the close bonds with others.
"“There Are Two Ways to Be Fooled. One Is to Believe What Isn't True; the Other Is to
I felt that the author was able to present an unbiased view of the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII. He presented many diverse viewpoints of this period of time and explained why they thought the way they did. For example, Kabuo Miyamoto, the defendant, had fought with the US army in WWII. Kabuo was deeply affected by his experience in the war, and it changed his perspective of the world. On the other hand, Carl Heine's mother, Etta, is extremely prejudiced against the Japanese, She feels that all of the "dirty Japs" as she calls them, are lazy and untrustworthy. She judges all Japanese people by their race. The author also represents the American friends of the Japanese. Etta's husband was friends with Kabuo's father, and when the family was sent to an internment camp, he offered to take care of their land. However, when he died, Etta sold the land to someone else. By including all these different viewpoints of that period of time, the reader is given a more complete picture.
In The New York Times article “At Internment Camp Exploring Choices of the Past,” Norimitsu Onishi discusses Japanese-Americans who were incarcerated in Tule Lake, an internment camp during World War II that held Japanese-Americans who were particularly insubordinate. Now decades after the events that took place in Tule Lake, the children of detainees who have been there begin to ask questions that were never answered by their parents otherwise.
It was not until 1988 that the government officially apologized for the Japanese-American Internment and $20,000 was paid out to individuals who had been interned or relocated. The Japanese-American Internment experience lasted from 1942-1946. Approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans were affected. Many lost their property, health, sense of identity, and patriotism during the experience. The internment brings into question the constitutionality of “military necessity” and also paved the way for the later Civil Rights Movement.
The whole issue involved with the unfair treatment of Japanese Americans in the internment camps by the Americans, started not so long after Japanese warplanes bombed the Pearl Harbor. President Roosevelt, the chief of staff at that time signed an Executive Order 9066 which entailed the detainment of anyone who had any descendant from Japan. Contradictory to all evidences presented by the intelligence agencies, first generation Japanese Americans were the easy prey used by the government to show they had total control of the situation. Using several primary documents and secondary sources, the forced imprisonment and harsh mistreatment of Japanese Americans in internment camps would be examined. Since there was a huge influx of Japanese Americans in the West Coast, there was anger and fear that they might take over the U.S [Yellow Peril]. The imminence of the World War II solidified the motive to be afraid of the Japanese Americans and created cause for the U.S government to lead them to internment. Surprisingly even though Americans boasted about democracy, most of the Nikkei placed in internment were American citizens by law and had no right to be incarcerated. After 30 years, President Ford, the current chief of staff reversed Executive Order 9066. He stated that it was wrong to detain Nikkei as they were loyal to America. A public apology and a payment of $20,000 were made out to Nikkei. This gesture solidifies the wrongdoing of Nikkei by the U.s government. The same conclusion could be drawn from a close look inside of the internment camps. From my research on the issue at hand, I propose a thesis stating that the incarceration of the Japan...
Harth, Erica. Last Witnesses: Reflections on the Wartime Internment of Japanese Americans. New York: Palgrave for St. Martin's, 2001. Print.
Robson, David. "Life in Camps." The Internment of Japanese Americans. San Diego, CA: Reference Point, 2014. N. pag. Print.
Valuable points and statements have all been said throughout the whole Socratic seminar discussion which indeed influenced some of my understandings of the book, “Of Mice and Men” and “The Harvest Gypsies.” Before the Seminar discussion took place, I believed that George was always a tough guy who did not express his own emotions based on an image that he has placed on himself throughout his life. When my classmates discussed the question, “Did George really believe that one day they will have their ranch, or did he just say that for Lennie's sake?” (asked by Marielle.) I heard circumstances where I changed my opinion of George and his emotions toward expressing his feelings to others. His companion, Lennie Small, was able to get through the softness of George’s emotions. Everyone who contributed to the
One example of the way the Japanese Americans were treated inhumanely was throughout the war the Japanese Americans were trying their hardest to protest against the way they were being treated in the internment camps. The Japanese Americans wanted and insisted to be recognize as loyal American citizens (Library of Congress). To add on to that the conditions at the internment camps, they were notably difficult and traumatic, leaving the worried mothers with only a few options but to provide not only emotional support, but also physical support. While all the Japanese Americans could do was hope for the best (Dusselier [Page 12). Along with, the abuse the Japanese Americans in the eyes of the Americans viewed them as aliens forcing abuse on them whether it b...
“Above all, don't lie to yourself. The man who lies to himself and listens to his own lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to love.” Fyodor Dostoyevsky once said this and this quote has greatly influenced the theme statement for this paper. The theme statement for this paper on the Great Gatsby is some people are willing to put up a false façade in order to become something they think is better and they lose their true selves in the long run. This paper will go through three examples of putting up a false façade. First the paper will go through Jay Gatsby, then Nick Carraway and finally the paper will wrap up with the parties that Gatsby throws.
Guterson chose not to write this book solely off of what he already knew, but wanted to make it as accurate and realistic as possible. Therefore, he dove into the World War II internment camps and the lifestyles of Japanese-Americans. The author developed “graceful, restrained images of Japanese-American life […through] extensive research and interviews with the area’s [Puget
army. In the short passage “Japanese-American Internment was an Unnecessary and a Racist Act.” it says, “In fact, more than 25,000 japanese-americans served in the armed forces during world war II”. If the japanese really wanted to sell out the united states and give out their information, then why did so many people sacrifice their lives for this country? This is proof of the loyalty japanese americans had for the united states.
Baseball Saved Us exposes children to the grim aspects of the internment camps. It does not hesitate to point out the overcrowded living quarters in the desolate conditions of the desert camps or that Japanese Americans had to discard most of their belongings before leaving their homes. Yet, it is through these realistically dark details that this book teaches one of its most valuable lessons to children. Children need to know that Japanese Americans were unfairly persecuted and interned. Oftentimes history textbooks gloss over the Japanese American internment camps. Baseball Saved Us attempts to elucidate this overlooked subject and teaches children about the wrongful treatment of Japanese Americans during and following WWII. In describing the horrible conditions of the camps, this book serves as a positive ethical influence on children because it shows them how unfair it was for people to be forced to experience these hard...
Japanese Americans underwent different experiences during the Second World War, resulting in a series of changes in the lives of families. One such experience is their relocation into camps. Wakatsuki’s farewell to Manzanar gives an account of the experiences of the Wakatsuki family before, during and after the internment of the Japanese Americans. It is a true story of how the internment affected the Wakatsuki family as narrated by Jeanne Wakatsuki. The internment of the Japanese was their relocation into camps after Pearl Harbor was bombed by the naval forces of Japan in 1941. The step was taken on the assumption that it aimed at improving national security. This paper looks at how internment impacted heavily on Papa’s financial status, emotional condition and authority thus revealing how internment had an overall effect on typical Japanese American families.