How Symbolism Can Illustrate and Add Depth to Unconventional Things The loss of innocence may happen slowly or suddenly and is always unpredictable. Innocence is a quality people are born with, but most often do not die with. In When the Emperor was Divine, the characters are sent to an isolated camp for Japanese Americans where they experience a decline within themselves as their situation gets worse. The author, Julie Otsuka, creates symbolism through the color white to show the slow deterioration of the characters and their circumstances, demonstrating that when people are subject to negative change and thrust into difficult situations, the loss of purity and innocence is inevitable. When people are forced to change for the worse, their circumstances are …show more content…
The tainting of impurity is never actually gone, no matter how hard a person may try to cover it. When the father returns from prison, he is a different person to them. He is a shell of who he once was, and the purity of what was once there has seemingly disappeared. “He wore bright white dentures, and he’d lost the last of his hair,” (Otsuka 132). Dentures are used when teeth fall out or are missing. The significance of them being replaced with white dentures is to demonstrate that after the camps and prison, when everyone is trying to get back to how their lives were before and act like the loss of innocence had never happened, something is missing just like the teeth. No matter if they have the fake white teeth or the fake purity that the horrible conditions of the prisons and treatment of Japanese Americans have taken from them, if you remove them, the original teeth and purity are still missing. The environments that the mother and father have been put into influence the people's innocence, and no matter how hard they try to resist it or cover it up, it is still
The novel When the Emperor Was Divine was written by Julie Otsuka exploring the life struggles and tribulations of a Japanese American family. The family moved to the U.S. in the 1940s, and the mother is oblivious to the imminent crisis that is set to befall the nation, starting with the evacuation of the Japanese from California. When the family eventually leaves for a composite in Utah, they realize that the same struggles that they face are reminiscent of other Japanese in the camp who are struggling to maintain their identity. Otsuka uses symbols in her novel to advance her thoughts, and critically, add important dimensions and meanings to the deadly plot. Otsuka uses some ‘prominent’ symbols such as flowers, horses, and dust, but from
In When the Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka, each of the characters – the mother, the daughter, the son, and the father - change because of their time spent in the Japanese-American internment camps. These characters change in not only physical ways, but they also undergo psychic and emotional changes as a result of staying in the camps. These changes weaken their resolve for living and cause the quality of their lives to decline; some of these changes will affect their lives forever. Their reclassification into the internment camps stays with the family long after they are released from the camps.
People with differences often create conflicts in communities. Those differences may include religion, culture, sexuality, gender, and ethnicity. When an individual or group has one or more of these differences, they are set apart or marginalized from the community. The novel, When The Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka, the short story “The Outcasts Of Poker Flat” by Bret Harte, and another short story “Wilshire Bus” by Hisaye Yamamoto all give various insights and motives on how and why communities marginalize. Communities marginalized others by alienating them because the communities feel threatened by their differences that deviate from societal norms; to prevent marginalization in communities, communities should be inclusive of individuals
Most outcasts of history had a particular, exclusive life; full of struggles against the society ever since birth and grew up with a heart made out of steel from the harsh criticism they have endured. They differ from the community within their beginning to their end, and many of their stories end up becoming legends and gaps of the past that nobody will be able to reincarnate. China’s first and last female emperor, Wu Zetian, was one of these exclusives. Ever since birth, her history of tactics to the people around her; in order to ascend the throne, juxtaposed towards society’s attitudes of women at the time; through her breakdown of gender stereotypes and quick knowledge, and offered a new perspective to the world of just how cruel and beautiful women can be. She successfully destructed all accumulated views of women in the Tang Dynasty, and created her future in the way she wanted it – on top of every man in her country. She was an outcast – somebody who juxtaposed against the demands of her. She was history.
In many stories, authors use symbolism, which is using symbols to represent something, to show a moral. “The Masque of the Red Death,” is a fictionalized story about a deadly disease that pervades through a country, killing many people. A young prince, in an effort to save himself and his elite friends and family, he withholds them all in his grand castle. The castle is unique in that it has seven very distinct rooms, that all seem to represent something important. In the short story “The Masque of the Red Death” by Edgar Allan Poe, the seven colored chambers symbolize the cycle of human life, from birth to death.
Julie Otsuka’s When The Emperor Was Divine told the unspoken stories of many Japanese-Americans during the Interment. Remembering the experiences that thousands of innocent people went through can leave them to feel uneasy and upset. The stripping of their identity and reclassifying them as enemy aliens left them with everlasting trauma and nightmares. Japanese-Americans were arrested, rounded up and transported to Internment camps across the United States where, in some cases, they were held for several years. Therefore, the Japanese-Americans during the Second World War had lasting repercussions from psychological, physical and financial aspects on the prisoners.
Golding uses the symbolism of colors. For example, pink, the color of innocence, portrays the
When an author writes a short story, they often use symbolism to convey what they mean in as little words as possible; or to spread a message that is easier for others to grasp. “Young Goodman Brown,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and “Hills Like White Elephants,” by Ernest Hemingway, are two such short stories that make great use of symbolism throughout the work. “Young Goodman Brown,” a story that is nearly all symbolism, has to be interpreted properly; so that the reader might understand and learn from what he is reading. “Hills Like White Elephants,” a story that uses less symbolism than the previous story, is a story that uses symbolism to talk about something that was forbidden at the time that this story takes place. Both stories use different styles of symbolism, and hidden meanings, to convey what the author is trying to get across to his readers.
Symbolism is commonly used by authors that make short stories. Guin is a prime example of how much symbolism is used in short stories such as “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” and “Sur.” In both of these stories Guin uses symbolism to show hidden meanings and ideas. In “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” there is a perfect Utopian city, yet in this perfect city there is a child locked in a broom closet and it is never let out. A few people leave the city when they find out about the child, but most people stay. Furthermore, in “Sur” there is a group of girls that travel to the South Pole and reach it before anyone else, yet they leave no sign or marker at the South Pole. Guin’s stories are very farfetched and use many symbols. Both “Sur” and “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” have many symbols such as colors, characters, objects, and weather. The four types of symbols that Guin uses help the readers understand the themes in her short stories. Although her stories are farfetched, they need symbolism in them or the reader would not understand the theme; therefore the symbols make Guin’s stories much more enjoyable.
The Han dynasty and the Roman Empire were both powerful empires during their era. However, the ways they obtained their power varied greatly because they used different methods that involved their political structures, which revolved around their centralized governments. The Han dynasty and the Roman Empire acquired very unique techniques that allowed them to control social and political. For example, the Han dynasty adopted a religion known as Confucianism, which monitored everything in the lives of the Chinese. Contrary, the Roman Empire established a monarchy but allowed its residents more freedom as compared to the Han. Nevertheless, the two empires were similar in political structures in that the power was depended on the wealthy that were in authority, the peasants struggled with their lives because of concerning issues such as food supply. The empires were able to create and preserve a peaceful and sustainable lives for a long time, unlike the past empires. Social distribution were under the control of the wealthiest and they could effortlessly impact community viewpoints and interactions among the residents. These two empires existed during the Classical Period had comparable and various social, political, religions, as well as economical values and practices. However, they both possessed differences and similarities in their economic and social perspectives even though the two empires were established around the same era.
Throughout history, regimes often label different groups the enemy due to military defeat or economic strife. However, once the accusations are looked at in context, the prospect is entirely illogical. Julie Otuka’s book “When the Emperor was Divine” follows a Japanese-American family during the Second World War living in Berkley, California. After the United States enters the war, the family is sent to an internment camp in Utah. While there, the book follows the young boy’s experience with his freedom being taken from him at a young age.
In Julie Otsuka’s novel, When the Emperor was Divine, the boy’s emotions are embodied through animals. In mid 1942, the boy and his family are displaced from their home in Berkeley, CA, and relocated to an internment camp. The family is forcibly imprisoned in response to Executive Order 9066, due to their Japanese heritage. The boy’s initial hope and innocence are expressed through a tortoise. The disappearance of these virtues become evident through the animal’s demise. Additionally, images of wild horses display the boy’s desire for freedom and an identity, while their death illustrates his inability to aspire to such things. A tortoise and horses manifest the boy’s internal struggles with his internment. The life and death of the creatures
Thesis Statement In "When the Emperor Was Divine," the identity crisis faced by Japanese-American characters illustrates Du Bois's concept of double consciousness, revealing the internal conflict between their American identity and the imposed identity of the "enemy" during WWII. Introduction to W.E.B. Du Bois's concept of double consciousness describes the internal conflict experienced by marginalized groups in America as they navigate dual identities imposed by society. In the novel "When the Emperor Was Divine" by Julie Otsuka, Japanese-American characters face a profound identity crisis during their internment in WWII. This paper examines two incidents from the novel that highlight this crisis, analyzing how the characters react and the long-term effects on their sense of self.
Symbolism is one of the major elements in "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker. The woman's search for something she has never experienced is the symbolization of the mankind's search for love and happiness. The meaning of names, occupations, power, pants, cloth, words, eyes, frogs, starts, shell, stamps are only few examples of the symbols used by the author and are very important in understanding not only the characters of the story, but also global values such as love, power, mutual understanding, and authority over another person's life.
on a boat waiting for the turn of the tide on the river Thames, he