Category: Farewell to Manzanar

The Japanese internment of 1942 showed that resistance is provoked in order to maintain identity under threat by ignoring stereotypes and not conforming to the society’s beliefs in forms such as volunteering to help his country as shown by Woody in Chapter 11 of Jeanne Wakatsuki’s memoir ‘Farewell to Manzanar’ and by providing justification against the internment as shown in Gordon K. Hirabayashi statement ‘Why I refuse to register.’

Gordon Hirabayashi tried to convince the American Government into reconsidering the internment order mandated in EO 9066 before he was deported to an internment camp by arguing that, “this order for mass evacuation of all persons of Japanese descent denies then the right to live”(Hirabayashi). The use of his persuasive tone by referencing the fourteenth amendment which gives Americans the right to live helps provide justification against internment and convince the authorities to reconsider the order. Hirabayashi’s attempt to protect his identity by using a persuasive tone failed because of the society’s closed minded thinking. While Hirabayashi argued that the Japanese-Americans shouldn’t be interned, many were already struggling to make decisions in the camp like Jeanne Wakatsuki’s brother, Woody. When he was talking to his dad, Woody Wakatsuki was stumped as he was given the War Relocation Authority application, and he had to choose between answering NO NO, where he “will be shipped back to Japan with all those other bakatare”(Papa) or he argued that “if I answer YES YES I will be drafted [for WW2] anyway, no matter how I feel about it”(Woodrow). The use of the word “Bakatare” for the Japanese, shows that Woody and his father are leaning towards the second option, to maintain their identity as a Japanese-American by fighting for their country and showing patriotism. Gordon K. Hirabayashi’s statement and Jeanne Wakatsuki’s memoir ‘Farewell to Manzanar’ both illustrate the Japanese-American struggle to get out of internment and maintain their identity that has been preserved for many generations to come.

The Japanese internment of 1942 showed that resistance is provoked in order to maintain identity under threat by ignoring stereotypes and not conforming to the society’s beliefs in forms such as volunteering to help his country as shown by Woody in Chapter 11 of Jeanne Wakatsuki’s memoir ‘Farewell to Manzanar’ and by providing justification against the internment as shown in Gordon K. Hirabayashi statement ‘Why I refuse to register.’ Gordon Hirabayashi tried to convince the American Government into reconsidering the internment order mandated in EO 9066 before he was deported to an internment camp by arguing that, “this order for mass evacuation of all persons of Japanese descent denies then the right to live”(Hirabayashi). The use of his persuasive tone by referencing the fourteenth amendment which gives Americans the right to live helps provide justification against internment and convince the authorities to reconsider the order. Hirabayashi’s attempt to protect his identity by using a persuasive tone failed because of the society’s closed minded thinking. While Hirabayashi argued that the Japanese-Americans shouldn’t be interned, many were already struggling to make decisions in the camp like Jeanne Wakatsuki’s brother, Woody. When he was talking to his dad, Woody Wakatsuki was stumped as he was given the War Relocation Authority application, and he had to choose between answering NO NO, where he “will be shipped back to Japan with all those other bakatare”(Papa) or he argued that “if I answer YES YES I will be drafted [for WW2] anyway, no matter how I feel about it”(Woodrow).

The use of the word “Bakatare” for the Japanese, shows that Woody and his father are leaning towards the second option, to maintain their identity as a Japanese-American by fighting for their country and showing patriotism. Gordon K. Hirabayashi’s statement and Jeanne Wakatsuki’s memoir ‘Farewell to Manzanar’ both illustrate the Japanese-American struggle to get out of internment and maintain their identity that has been preserved for many generations to come.

Many Japanese Americans were very badly mistreated in the past and still are. Houston and Takei’s experiences are different yet are very similar in many ways. They all had many fears due to racial hate, hostility, and eventually they all wanted to boycott against it no matter what situation they were in. Houston and Takei’s experiences are different yet similar in many ways. They all had many fears due to racial hate, hostility, and eventually they all wanted to boycott against at it no matter what situation they were in. Houston and Takei had many experiences throughout there time in the internment camps. Many people were forced to take the loyalty oath all around. Many had different reactions and feelings about the loyalty oath. No matter on how anybody answered the questionnaire, you were judged, especially if you were a Japanese American. Houston’s situation is similar to Takei’s because just due to the way they looked, they were treated harshly. Those events were a very hard time to go through for everybody who did.

In Manzanar many people viewed papa as a traitor right off the bat. Due to this, it effected how Houston had saw her father throughout her life. Houston had only known her father for being a drunk aka ‘papa.’ Papa seemed not to care anymore about how he was seen due to many reasons. Since everyone had been presented a loyalty oath questioner this had then caused many ripple effects that nobody wanted. If her were to say yes yes to the questioner this would have caused many people to believe he was picking sides and betraying the others. Yet, if he chooses no no, he will still be seen as a traitor.

Once Papa, Houston, and all of them were sent to Manzanar his behavior began to change rapidly. Mostly due to their mistreatment because if the way they looked. In the text it shows how he begins to feel depressed and sad. In order for him to feel better in his own way, he would drink, throw up, drink and throw up again constantly over and over again. He had done this to distract himself from all the pain and the embarrassment. Once they had there meeting at the mess hall papa didn’t want to say yes yes, or no no, because you were automatically expected to say yes yes no matter what. Many were scared and did not want to be judged or sent away due to their opinion. For example, anytime papa hears the national anthem, he cries or sings along. Many felt guilty or bad about the past, even though it was a long time ago.

Houston and Takei’s experiences are very sad and tragic, yet they eventually over time began to move on and let it go. Many Japanese Americans were very badly mistreated even if they weren’t the enemy. It was not fair at all. Nobody should be judged or treated differently due to their race, color, or the way they look. Many had not seen the bad in mistreating them, treating them as if they were wild animals. A Lot of people were affected by this event and still are being affected in the own way. None of it can simply be forgiven or forgotten because it was a very important event that went on.

Takei’s situation was a very different experience. During the time of the attack on pearl harbor many innocent Japanese Americans were sent to camps. All of them had their home taken and all of their possessions taken as well. Many of them were never seen again sadly. Takei was very stressed out and scared as a child which can relate to Houston’s situation as well. Many of the armed soldiers were harsh and very critical on all of the Japanese Americans. A majority of them were seen as traitors because they had all answered no no, even though they were not there enemies. In both situations Takei and Houston were very young, and they experienced many bad things. Many of the people from that incident still are alive and live to tell their experience. They both have helped many people back then and even now understand their side of it. Many of the people in world war 2 were very harsh and unfair.

Those historic event show how many things in life can be misunderstood. A Lot of there word choices show much of there meaning and how they experienced everything throw their own eyes. Overall many Japanese Americans were treated unfairly due to their race and the way they looked, which has overtime shown people how to be better and learn from the past.

An untold part of World War II that many people do not know about is the imprisonment of thousands of Japanese Americans along the west coast. After pearl harbor was attacked by Japan in 1941, the United States Army believed that all Japanese Americans were disloyal to America. For the Japanese people, this meant that they would be locked away in internment camps for years. On the other side of the war, American citizens were losing their loved ones every day. A combination of stress and loss during war creates a damaging impact on our citizens rather than a benefit to America.

As depicted throughout Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Houston, Japanese Americans living on the west coast faced extreme racism and dehumanization during World War II. Jeanne, the main character and her family were moved out of their home into a camp called Manzanar. Reflecting on the poor conditions of the camp, Jeanne states “Whatever dignity or feeling of filial strength we may have known before December 1941 was lost, and we did not recover it until many years after the war.”(33) As they worked hard trying to make the camp livable, the prisoners seemed to forget who they were as humans while trying to survive. Not only did they face hardships inside the camp, but they had already been demonized by the public by the time they were free to leave. As illustrated on page 115, “Worst, the very thought of going back to the West Coast filled us with dread… Three years of wartime propaganda– racist headlines, atrocity movies, hate, slogans, and fright-maks posters– had turned the Japanese face into something despicable and grotesque.”(115) Leaving the camp, the prisoners were framed as America’s enemy. To the public, they were locked away for being traitors to the country, but in reality, it was only because of their race. Throughout the novel, Houston recounts her personal experiences from World War II to represent how the Japanese people at the time were faced with unimaginable circumstances at this point in history.

In contrast to the oppression of Japanese Americans, American soldiers were put in a different kind of misery during World War II. The poems Anthem for Doomed Youth and In Flanders Fields surround the theme that with war comes great loss. In the poem Anthem for Doomed Youth, Wilfred Owen discusses the soldiers of World War II, all whose lives were lost in battle. “What passing-bells for these who die as cattle? Only the monstrous anger of the guns, Only the stuttering rifles’ rapid rattle can patter out their hasty orisons.”(Owen) The author is representing how the soldiers were being killed off like animals, and the chilling sound of the rifles was what they heard more than anything else. Also, as expressed in the second stanza of In Flanders Fields, “We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived felt dawn, saw sunset glow, loved and were loved, and now we lie in Flanders Fields” (McRae) The death caused by the war took a great toll on American families across the nation. In death, these men were taken away from their homes and their loved ones. Within these poems, Owen and McRae depict the sad reality of the war.

Under the physical and mental stress of war, people can end up losing their ability to empathize, resulting in a negative change in behavior. One reason for this is because of a molecule inside the human brain that dictates our ability to behave morally; also called oxytocin. “High stress inhibits oxytocin release and makes us temporary psychopaths…. Stress narrows one’s focus on oneself and we cease to be morally competent.” A person’s “moral molecule” is compromised under the stress of war, and as a country, people can create an unwelcoming society to live in. In Farewell to Manzanar, Jeanne’s father, or Papa lost his moral molecule between prison and the internment. The quote “And he was of course a prisoner of war.” (53) symbolizes how he had gone mad amid all the fighting in the country. Even so, Papa was just one of the many people in the book that lost their old selves during that time. In all, the loss of oxytocin in many Americans and Japanese people created the grim atmosphere of World War II.

Clearly, war in American history has put a great strain on society and its moral behavior. As observed throughout the sources, Japanese Americans faced severe cruelty, while American soldiers were all surrounded by death. This shows how violence inside the country caused extreme suffering, rather than an eventual benefit.