As a class assignment one of the books we had to read was No No Boy. John Okada was the author of the book he was born in Seattle he also attended University of Washington and Columbia University. Just like Japanese Americans, John Okada fought for the United States during World War II, but on the other hand Ichrio did not go into the military. That’s why Ichrio was a No No Boy. Ichrio was a 25-year-old Japanese American. I feel Okada wrote No-No boy based on his own life story. In this book he deals with the Japanese camps and problems Japanese American soldiers face serving the United States while fighting their own heritage. In this book John Okada shows the Japanese Americans that did not fight in the army so they were punished with camps and jail for being No No Boys. As a first generation Japanese-American Ichrio was faced with a huge issue in this book. He had a father who was a drunk he had two friend Freddie and Kenji. His mother and father were born and raised in japan but moved to America before Ichrio was born, but they have always believed they would return to japan one day so they didn't want their son to identify himself as an American the problem was that Ichrio was born and raised in America, unlike his parents so living in America is all he knowns. He believes …show more content…
that America provides a good opportunity while his mother believes it shows “disloyalty and disgrace to his family. I feel the real reason Ichrio did not fight in the war was because he was searching for a meaningful reason in his life. In No-No boy each character deals with a problem such as conflicts, emotions, and pride.
Most of Ichiro’s problems comes from the fact that he chose not to join the American army because he felt he was an American in his own way. But his regret for his decision messes with him and he hates himself for his choose sometimes. He feels he is not free because people around him remind him of his choose every day. Instead of feeling the relief of freedom from the camp, he feels trapped by his self-hatred, knowing he will never be the same and never be a true American, which he wants to be. In this book, Ichiro goes through a lot of struggles to define what gives someone the right to be
American. In America, we can't say we stand for one culture or ethnicity. Even today we still remain to be divided and withhold a culture of our own. The gap between races is still apparent and the color line is still being used. I believe the law affects Ichrio in this book because it doesn't give him a fair opportunity in life.
Before O’Brien was drafted into the army, he had an all American childhood. As talked about “His mother was an elementary school teacher, his father an insurance salesman and sailor in World War II” (O’Brien). He spent his tour of duty from 1969 to 1970 as a foot soldier. He was sent home when he got hit with a shrapnel in a grenade attack. O’Brien says as the narrator, “As a fiction writer, I do not write just about the world we live in, but I also write about the world we ought to live in, and could, which is a world of imagination.” (O’Brien)
Right from the beginning of the ending, Freddie plays the role of society during the war (Japanese-American and otherwise), as he tries to get Ichiro into action. Freddie coerces him: “What the hell. You gotta get out and do somethin’. I’ll pick you up, yeah? . . . Goddammit, you gotta get out and live, I told you’” (208). This is similar rhetoric to what was used toward Japanese-Americans who were
The obstacles Ichiro faced in searching for his lost identity reveal a discrepancy of American values, such as freedom and equality, which are deeply rooted in a segregated society. Through the negativity of many of the Japanese-American veterans and the differences among Ichiro’s entire family, he has literally gone from having a duel-heritage to no identity at all. Since he has no desire to be Japanese and feels unworthy to be American, he sees himself as nothing. His hatred of himself not only hinders the possibilities before him, but it also paints a whole new picture of America. Instead of a nation that is united and fights for freedom and equality, America is divided by racism and strips away the freedom of those they find inferior.
Tim did not agree with the war. He did not think the war was justified. He believed there was no reason for the war. He contemplated going across the Canadian border so he wouldn 't have to fight in the war. But the guilt and shame from his family would push him to go in anyway. As the war went on he felt guilty because he didn 't believe in himself enough to live according to his beliefs.
Being free is definitely a valued aspect of life. America offered that freedom that surely attracted many immigrants. Even though some immigrants such as Ralph and Helen that hold strongly to their Chinese beliefs fall to the big "American dream". The American dream was so powerful that it even captured Ralph and Helen. Ralph ,being greedy for money and throwing his Chinese values and opening a fast food Chinese restaurant and Helen ,who had an affair, both adopted American ideals and became the "typical Americans" they feared to be. It was both similar how Ralph and Helen lost their Chinese ideal. However, Ralph fell for the trap of money, greed, and knowledge. Helen fell for the trap of materialistic objects and the idea of love. Both of these characters, unknowingly, threw away what they believed in all because they pursued the American dream.
Monica Sone's memoir shows how growing up was like as a Japanese American in the United States before and during World War II. As the War was upon the U.S it was by no means an easy time for any American citizen, especially the Japanese Americans who dealt with persecution all along the West Coast. Kazuko was born in America to Japanese immigrant parents, known as Nisei which means second-generation Japanese American. While her parents are Issei which is first-generation Japanese immigrants to America. Nisei Daughter primary focus is on the family's strength in the face of challenges ahead, and their capability to give up everything for the country they love. Sone provides the process of assimilation, which is members of a minority group adopting to the behaviors and attitudes of the majority population. In Nisei Daughter, the issue of assimilation becomes especially complex. That is due to the fact that Japanese Americans including the Ioti’s are
22. Muller, Eric,Free to Die for Their Country: The Story of the Japanese American Draft Resisters in World War II . 2001, University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition
This is also seen in the character Jim. While Jim is with Miss Watson, he is a slave. She isn't the one who made him that way, it was society. She was good to him and never did him any harm, but the fact is that no matter how good she was to him, he still was only a slave. When Jim runs away, he finally sees that there was a way to be truly free and that was to not live within society. When Jim is in the woods on the island, he just starts to realize what it is to be free and what it is like to live on his own. After he meets Huck in the woods he also realizes what it is like to have a friend. Society kept him from having both of these, freedom and friends.
The narrator continues with describing his resentment towards his home life, 'Coming home was not easy anymore. It was never a cinch, but it had become a torture (2).'; This excerpt provides the reader with an understanding of the sorrow that the protagonist feels at the beginning of the novel and throughout the first half. Further narration includes the protagonists feelings of distance from the land and blame that he places upon himself, 'But the distance I felt came not from country or people; it came from within me (2).'; Thus, as the reader, we understand that the narrator has removed himself from the land and his culture.
He now has the opportunity to decide his future, and how he can help change it! Because he wants to save his fellow friends and help them to see the new world. He will be the new change in his world. All because he went against his leaders and thought his own thoughts, he has the ability to change his world for not only him but the whole society. If you had this opportunity why would you not take it? Equality can be the change in his society so others do not have to live that miserable life he spent the last several years of his life
After Ichiro comes back to Seattle, he has more struggles to face. “The no no boys, too, were released reviled and shunned, or something lauded, they became the target of the Japanese American Community’s agonizing ambivalence about the war” No no boys become targets because they we a “disgrace” to the Japanese American community because they choose not to join the American military. People judge him for not joining the military and his brother who despises him for his decision to not joining the Army. “Rotten Bastard. Shit on you. Eto coughed up a mouthful on a sputum and rolled his words around it: Rotten, no-good bastard.” In the beginning of the novel when Ichiro gets off the bus and sees Eto who wants to catch up with him figures out that
To be an American is to be hopeful, grateful and able to pursue one’s own dreams and achieve happiness with hard work and determination without being persecuted. It is to be an individual governed by natural rights stated in the Bill of Rights. Holden the troubled boy in J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye does not embody those American ideals. He is troubled by uncertainty about the world at seventeen years of age and is bleak, and innocent about people, things, around him. Holden is not an American at heart because he doesn’t put in effort and determination nor is he hopeful or grateful.
Austin Benoit’s presentation on the significance of noir in John Okada’s No-No Boy was a new approach to the theme of American National Belonging, which usually targets the societal aspects of American identity. Titled “’A Terribly Incomplete Thing’: ‘No-No Boy’ and the Ugly Feelings of Noir,” the article mainly argued that dark deeds, and the social estrangement signified by noir, depicted the “psychic torment” that Ichiro suffers due to his refusal to serve in the US military, representing a “discourse of negative feelings” and corrosion of any “affirmative patriotic sentiments” that the text upholds. Furthermore, Benoit treated the article’s evidence and stakes by first defining vocabulary, such as noir, in order to help the audience better
The novel Mark Twain’s novel, “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” gives a very compelling argument as to whether the people in his time are really living the American dream that was promised and individuality. In the novel, readers learn about a boy who refuses to follow the norms of society and chooses his own individual views instead of clinging on the rest of civilization. As he goes on his path to the Mississippi river with a runaway slave named Jim, he blindly makes decisions that to him, seem to be right and are indeed viewed as being more morally correct than other people. With that, the most consequential and important theme that is being conveyed in the story plot is freedom which comes in forms varying between the two characters.
Okonkwo embodies all the ideal and heroic traits of the Igbo culture. He is strong, authoritative, hardworking, and successful. The opening sentence states that “Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond” (3). Okonkwo is great and famous because of his “solid personal achievements” (3). Okonkwo first achieved fame and recognition when he became the village’s wrestling champion. At eighteen years of age, he had “brought honor to his village” by defeating the seven-year champion. By winning the wrestling match, Okonkwo demonstrates to his village his great strength and skill as a warrior. After that his fame spread “like a bush-fire in the harmattan” (3). Okonkwo governs his household with authority. He “ruled his household with a heavy hand” (13). His wives and children lived “in perpetual fear of his fiery temper” (13). Okonkwo is a hard task-master. He works on his farm “from cock-crow until the chickens went to roost” and compelled his family to do the same (13). He does not tolerate laziness in his sons. He punishes his son, Nwoye, with “constant nagging and beating” (14). Okonkwo is the sole and unquestionable authority figure in his household.