Otsuka's When The Emperor Was Divine

892 Words2 Pages

People always say “be your own person” or “don’t let the influence of others affect you” but the influence of others is why some people change who they are. The idea for Japanese Americans is to be like the American Dream. In “When the Emperor was Divine” all Japanese Americans were sent to an internment camp after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The family loses everything they had before, including their culture. With the influence of the American lifestyle on the family, they start to believe that being Japanese is a disgrace and they start to lose themselves and their true heritage to be more like the Americans. The girl, a part of one of the families that were sent to internment camps during WW2, experiences conflict with society that affects her identity and her cultural view. …show more content…

The girl has to behave in an American manner, distancing herself from her culture to fit in in society. Japanese Americans were taught to not do certain things, so people wouldn’t discriminate against them. They understood that, “When in town, if you meet another Japanese, do not greet him in the Japanese manner by bowing. Remember, you’re in America. Greet him in the American way by shaking his hand.” (Otsuka 84). Japanese Americans recognize that they can not do things related to their original heritage, and they must behave like an American. The American lifestyle makes the girl believe that it’s not morally right to behave as anything other than American. They do things how Americans would and the girl understands it’s because of how people see her culture. The girl started to follow American standards because she thought her culture was a disgrace to the United States. When they got back from the camps, they heard from neighbors how the prisoners were treated and how they were seen because of their culture. “We looked at ourselves in the mirror and did not like what we saw: black hair, yellow skin, slanted eyes. The cruel face of the enemy.” (Otsuka

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