Summary:

The father was taken away in slippers and a bathrobe. The son is upset about this, but feels comfort in knowing that at least he wasn't taken away in "geta" like Tommy Tanaka's father.

Analysis:

As he is now being incarcerated because of being Japanese, he seems to be finding comfort in the fact that his father wasn't visibly labeled a "Japanese spy" through his slippers vs. the geta.

Summary:

During their time in the stables of Tanforan, sleeping became impossible when they became surrounded by flies. We see the boy's innocence show through when he appears to be attached to their new living conditions, expressing his love to the horses and his desires to be a jockey. "..when he grew up he wanted to be a jockey."

Analysis: A young boy can easily feel attached to his surroundings. Staying in the horse stall for months probably made him feel attached to horses and want to be a jockey. While at the same time, his sister belittles a jockey and connects it to "being a small man." This is probably because his sister wants to feel smarter than her brother. In addition, when Mr. Okamura says he should "eat lots, grow up to be big American boy,” that also makes the son feel that he should not become a jockey. This conflict makes him unsure of what he wants to become in the future, bringing up a sense of uncertainty.

The mother tells her kids to say they were Chinese when asked to avoid conflict. The boy passes by a real Chinese shop owner who has a sign on him labeling him as Chinese. On the street a man asked the boy, "Chink or Jap" and the boy responds "Chink", before promptly running away. Once he was out of hearing distance from the man, the boy says, "Jap! Jap! I'm a Jap!", to set the record straight.

Analysis:

The boy feels dishonest saying he's Chinese and wishes he could claim that he's Japanese, but safely. He's rebellious, but not dangerous, like when he whispers the emperor's name.

Summary

The brother dreams of a small wooden door (size of a pillow), and behind that door there is another that has a picture of the Emperor which is hidden to the eye as he was god/divine. Just as he's about to turn the knob to the second door, "the doorknob falls off"/gets "stuck", it was somewhere completely different in terms of location (Nevada, Peleliu) or something always comes up that stops him. With his father not there, miles away from home, scrabbling claws were fainter now.

Analysis

Emperor hidden behind the door represents a deeply repressed part of the boy’s identity (his Japanese heritage) which he has been taught to distance himself from in order to survive. The Emperor is described as divine, never to be looked upon mirroring the way the boy is expected to deny his culture under the pressure of American surveillance/suspicion. The father's distance and imprisonment make him feel just as untouchable and unseeable as the divine image behind the second door.

Summary:

The mother worries that her husband won't recognize her with her wrinkles and thinks she should have bought two Pond's wrinkle cream and asks her son if there are bag under her eyes. He responds that she should have bought THREE creams and says, "There's bags". He also tells her that he'll remind the dad who she is if he doesn't recognize her.

Analysis:

He is trying to help, but still seems kind of clueless, telling her the truth instead of sugarcoating it.

Summary:

Hearing the stories of the other detained fathers in the camp, the mother recounts when life was normal, reminiscing about her daily routine and the minuscule issues she used to worry about. "Sometimes... I'll look up at the clock... I'm sure that he's on his way home.... 'It's late,' I'll think to myself. 'I should have started the rice by now."

Analysis:

The mother used to be a traditional housewife who is suppose to take care of her husband's meals. She used to worry about casual things, but now with her husband gone and her children in incarceration camps, she is forced to face much heavier burdens, such as protecting her children.

The mother dreams of Kagoshima, the city in Japan where she grew up. She remembers moments from her childhood, such as catching fireflies, fishing with her father, and the red paper lanterns that would drift in the river. Her dream-like, fleeting memory contrasts with the oppressive, dehumanizing reality she is living in. She longs for the time when she had complete freedom to do what she wanted. Now she is incarcerated in a prison camp, her identity diminished to a number or simply her race. The longer she stays in the camp, the less human she becomes - she lost her appetite, sense of self, etc. This memory of hers is almost reconnecting with a part of her that felt human. Since she physically has no freedom, she imagines it and escapes the camp mentally in order to survive. This emotional dislocation serves to reflect the real experiences of over 120,000 Japanese-Americans who were imprisoned by the US Government during WW2 simply due to their race and heritage.

Additionally, her memory of Kagoshima becomes a form of resistance against a government that has tried to erase who she is. It also represents the emotional complexity of being a Japanese-American at the time. She is being punished for their roots, yet she seeks refuge from those same roots.

Also, Mrs. Ueno

Driver, chandeliers, lobster, Yosemite...

Scarf, suits, hats

p.102 --> stop coming