Essay: Pearl Harbor (Farewell To Manzanar / When The Emperor Was Divine)

Pearl Harbor has long been recognized as one of the most impactful events in our country’s history that brought us into the second world war. Unknown to most, this attack on a U.S. naval base was a major factor in the segregation of a race, which tore families apart and caused an entire American generation to live with prejudice against the Japanese. Farewell To Manzanar and When The Emperor Was Divine, two books that narrate the events that took place during World War II after the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor, each give an interesting insight into the culture and racial injustice that were  propagated during that time. Although these books share many similarities in content, they also have many differences regarding the emphasis of the Japanese culture.
One of the similarities of the two books is they both focus on families suffering loss and structure due to the events that take place. One of the biggest losses these books share are the incarceration of both fathers who have a huge impact and leadership role within their families. In the beginning of Farewell to Manzanar they introduce us to papa, a fisherman who is made out to be the Patriarch of the family. When The Emperor Was Divine introduces the father when the narrator mentions how the lawn has not been mowed in months due to the fact that she has not seen her husband in months because of his arrest last December. Papa’s arrest also takes place in December when two FBI agents knock on his door and escort him out. The arrest of the
two fathers now leaves both families without a leadership presence which takes a toll on the mothers who feel they now have to step up and be strong for their families despite the hardships that are going to be faced. In Farewell To Manzanar the narrator shares with us more of Papa’s background and the affects of the family without Papa. Papa was a very dominant man who had a rough upbringing but left Japan at a young age to come to America to start a new life. The Narrator goes on to show us a more weak and broken Papa once he is relocated to Manzanar with his family. Despite both books sharing the arrest of the fathers, When The Emperor Was Divine gives us little to no background of the fathers life, however they make him out to be a loving, caring, warmhearted man. When both fathers are reunited with their families they are almost identical scenarios both show signs of wear from being incarcerated and interrogated, both fathers now using canes, and both families speechless when seeing their fathers for the first time again. It is obvious that both Families were affected by the sudden lack of infrastructure and
were forced to revaluate their lives.
Throughout both books the two families face unexpected relocations to camps due to the events that take place. In Farewell To Manzanar after Mama finds out that they must relocate because of the war, she decides to try and sell off any valuables because they were unable to fit it in the car. Feeling forced to get rid of her prized china, Mamas emotions are very high when a salesman offers her fifteen dollars for something very valuable and dear to her heart. After feeling insulted by the salesmans offer, Mama smashes all the china due to built up anger from being forced to leave something she cherishes very much and a token of her families history. The Woman in When The Emperor Was Divine faces a similar struggle when she is forced to pack and take whatever the family can hold. After realizing The Woman would not be able to take any of the families pets she feels it’s necessary to put the White Dog out of its misery before it would be abandoned and forced to live without shelter or food ultimately leading to its death. The psychological effect of these events could ultimately take a toll on Mama and The Woman. Both books show the significant losses each family were forced to take as a result of relocating and having to sacrifice something dear to their heart.
The racial climate of the both books begin to also change as the stories go on, we start reading about Japanese families living an ordinary life to suddenly being neglected and mistreated by the public based solely off the fact that they are Japanese. Farewell to Manzanar captures this discrimination when many Japanese families accepted another relocation due to aggression caused by Caucasians in public. Jeanne Wakatsuki details about her first experiences with discrimination in school being in a class with a caucasian teacher who made her feel very cold, distant, and sometimes a sense of hostility between one another. Both families burned anything connecting them to Japanese heritage including flags, photographs, Japanese style clothing, and anything that could be used against them if the FBI were to come and search their homes. In When The Emperor Was Divine we see a lot more changes made due to the families race than we do in Farewell To Manzanar. The Woman takes more precautions by changing her children’s lunches from rice balls to peanut butter sandwiches. The Woman is trying to make her children fit in as best as possible to avoid any discrimination problems, even going as far as telling her children to tell people that they are Chinese if ever asked in public. The Boy ultimately runs into the discrimination the Woman feared when asked in the street if he was “Chink or Jap?”(Otsuka 76), he responds with “Chink” then proceeds to run off and down the road stops and yells that he’s a “Jap”. This second response can be seen as a form of pride with his heritage, something that makes both books relatable is how characters take pride in their heritage but ultimately are forced to disassociate themselves from something they are so proud of. Even after the war had ended and the children had returned to school, the kids are still being mistreated by their classmates and feel forced to suppress any emotions in fear of being punished for it. The children are psychologically scarred from the events that had taken place.
The arrival at the camps for the families are often quite similar in both books. Farewell To Manzanar provides us with much more details about life at the camp when they first arrive. Jeanne Wakatsuki tell us about the food they are served in the mess hall and often details the conditions that they are living in at Manzanar. Both books talk about the amount of dust in their barracks, Jeanne Wakatsuki and her family find humor in the situation which is a first in their situation. The dust in When The Emperor Was Divine was used more metaphorically when the narrator stated “One evening, before he went to bed, he wrote his name in the dust across the top of the table. All through the night ,while he slept, more dust blew through the walls. By morning his name was gone.”(Otsuka 66). I feel the quote is a metaphor about how things can easily be erased and forgotten in a place like that, even ones identity.
There are many ways you could differentiate these two books, but as these two books discuss, there are many more similarities due to the events that took place because of Pearl Harbor. Both Farewell To Manzanar and When The Emperor was Divine gives us detailed looks into two families and the struggles faced to live in a society that frowns upon them. Each book shows us different stories and preparations as these two families are forced to relocate to camps. Although each family handled situations differently they are both in these hardships for the same reason. Being able to realize that every families story is different but ultimately share the same reason gives us a good insight on how life for the Japanese was during the events that took place after Pearl Harbor. Works Cited
Otsuka, Julie, 1962-. When The Emperor Was Divine. New York :Knopf : Distributed by Random House, 2002. Print.
Houston, Jeanne Wakatsuki.Houston, James D.Farewell To Manzanar: A True Story Of Japanese American Experience During And After The World War II Internment. New York : Ember, 2012. Print.