But somehow it slipped out anyway.

Hirohito, Hirohito, Hirohito....He whispered it" (Otsuka 52).

The boy is immature. He is instructed not to say the Japanese emperor's name out loud, for he will be labelled with suspicion for espionage or support for Japan. However, he sees it as a rebellious or thrilling game. In front of the guard tower -- no less -- he says the emperor's name. He is not a troublemaker because he whispers it. But he does not understand the gravity of the situation, or how his own family was torn apart because of the suspicion surrounding Japanese Americans.

woke up his father would be downstairs in the kitchen whistling “Begin the Beguine” through his teeth as he fried up breakfast in the skillet. “Here it comes, champ,” his father would say, “one hobo egg sandwich”(Otusuka 57).

Analysis: On this page, when the son has a nightmare, he starts to miss all the things his dad used to do for him. His dad would whistle and cheerfully push him to eat breakfast. Everything his dad did just makes the son really miss. It's those little positive things his dad did that gave the boy some encouragement and hope when he felt down.

In Asian societal beauty standards, having a lighter complexion is considered desirable. The sister tries to preach this to her brother. The sister is incredibly concerned with how she is perceived by society. She doesn't present herself in a way she deems adequate from her own volition. Rather, she is preoccupied with the validation of others. This might just be a product of being a young girl.

Analysis:

Here it describes that how detestable the Japanese people were perceived to be under that circumstance, and how individuals had to claim they were Chinese just to survive. By the end, admitting to being Japanese reveals that many Japanese disguising themselves as other nations in order to secure their survival.

Analysis: When the sister doesn't get treated equally by her peers, she decides to take a stand on her decision to never jump rope again. She is firm in her decisions and doesn't think twice about protesting on never jumping rope again. She could also be hard headed and instead of finding maybe new people to play with, she decides to never use the jump rope again, in order to prove her point of if she can't play then no one can, or if they won't let her play, then she'll never play again.

“He closed his eyes and recited the names of his old classmates whenever a dark ugly thought—he’s sick, he’s dead, he’s been sent back to Japan—tried to push its way into his head.” (102)

Analysis:

In this quote, it’s so sad to see the boy trying to handle his fears in the camp by thinking about his old classmates. When scary thoughts of his father getting sick or sent back to Japan come up, he closes his eyes and remembers their names. It helps him stay calm and feel connected to his old life. This shows how hard it is for him to deal with what's happening, and how thinking about something familiar gives him a little comfort.

“She would stare down at her hands in her lap, as though surprised to find them still there.

“Sometimes I don’t know if I’m awake or asleep.”

…

One day she said she couldn’t bear it anymore.” (94)

Analysis:

This quote shows how the mother is feeling overwhelmed by everything happening around her. When she stares at her hands, it’s like she’s surprised that she’s still there, as if she’s disconnected from herself. Her words about not knowing if she's awake or asleep show that she’s struggling to tell the difference between reality and her dreams or fears. She feels so weighed down by her emotions and situation that one day she says she just can’t take it anymore.

"In the beginning the boy thought he saw his father everywhere." (57).

Analysis :

I found this interesting because it started chapter 3 jumping right into it. The quote symbolizes how for the first team he starts seeing a lot of people like him, more importantly like his father. This got my attention because back in Berkeley maybe there was no other people who were Japanese, at least children or adults. Maybe seeing others like his father made him think about him more and the idea he is not there anymore. Wondering if he's okay and if he ever would see him again.

"Every night before she went to bed she daubed cream on her face". (96).

Analysis:

Before this quote the mother mentions how badly the sun ages. In this quote it means how she still wants t keep her youthful image and still cares about how she looks. No matter if she's doing heavy work, on the fields she still cares about what she looks like. It even mentions that the daughter also does not want the sun to darken her up so she wears a bandana on her head. It is interesting how both the women carbon appearance after all that has been happening with there family.

Analysis: In this quote, the Daughter was writing her father a post card and had mentioned to her brother that it "bothers her" that she can't remember something as important as her fathers face. This alludes to the fact that their father has been gone for such a long time to the point where his own children can't remember what he looks like. The fact that the children don't remember the physical appearance of their father shows the disconnect that they feel in their relationship with their father as a result of their father's absence.

Analysis: In this quote, the mother is physically aging from all the stress that she has been put through. The mother constantly seems exhausted and overwhelmed by the situation they were placed in. Despite being exhausted the mother still maintained her levelheadedness around her children so as not to scare them for what was to potentially come in the futre.

Analysis: The children still don't fully understand what is happening or why they had to pack up and leave home. Their memories of a normal childhood, like the boy's map and comic books highlight how he is still holding onto innocence even in times that are confusing and that can cause fear for him.

Analysis: The father has just been taken away so by doing this it is clear that she is trying to protect her family from being harmed any further. The mother is being forced to abandon her identity to fit in.

Analysis:

In the description of the mother's daily routine in the camp, she learns to darn, crochet, and arrange flowers. These mundane activities serve as a way for her to pass the time and maintain a sense of purpose in oppressive environment. Her efforts to engage in these small tasks reflect the family's struggles in coping with the boring life in the camp, where every day is governed by strict regulations and constant surveillance.

Analysis: This paragraph introduced the father to the readers. The father is a very gentle figure observed from his daily actions. He's even more friendly and kind than most Americans as he closes the door softly and never yells at waiters. These descriptions juxtapose with the fact that he's taken away to jail. The war has taken away humanity from the authorities and the general public. The authorities deprived people of their identities and values.

Analysis: the way that the sister writes the letter is similar to her father in that she doesn't want her friends to worry, so she only conveys positive messages even if they are false realities. While this may indicate a sense of maturity, it also represents the sister's worries. She also has self-conscious as she cares about her appearance and how her classmates see her. Only telling the positive sides or even forging the truth suggests that the sister does not want her classmates and her friends to see her differently as she was taken away to the itermitent camp.

I think this was an important quote because as a young boy who has been through a lot his morals are still on track and he wants to do right by his country. I think that it is very impressive that even while being held captive by his country he still wants to serve and protect the. IN the middle of the dessert he has a purple heart on his mind instead of just being home.

Analysis:

How the boy himself says "Kill the Japs" indicates that being in the cap has started to impact his cultural identity. He is aware of the discrimination faced by his community, both outside and inside of the camp. Making "Nazis" and "Japs" parallel phrases is the reflection of the stigma of being Japanese American. While the cultural identity has shifted away from Japanese, they are not recognized as american as well.

When people become bored of food it is never a good sign. It could mean that she is severely deppressed or even sick. Being in the camp has taken a big tole on her, the dust and the boredom played a big role. Something needs to change fast so that she starts eating again.

"Every few days the letters arrived, tattered and torn, from Lordsburg, New Mexico. Sometimes entire sentences had been cut out with a razor blade by the censors and the letters did not make any sense. Sometimes they arrived in one piece, but with half of the words blacked out." (Otsuka 59)

Analysis:

This quote describes the letters that the boy would receive from his father during their separation. All of the letters that came from the father had been read and scanned before being cleared for departure. The officials checking each note were searching and blocking out any information that had to do with the war or the Emperor. They did this by completely cutting out the physical words on paper or by blacking out sections. The US Government was trying to make sure that nothing potentially bad or secretive came from those writing letters.

Analysis:

The girl knows that the boy is really fascinated by horses but when he asks the girl about the gruesome reality of horse meat she does not hesitate to tell him the complete truth. She talks about how they get most horse meat from wild horses and alludes to the wild mustangs they had once seen out the window not too long ago. This really shows the character of the sister: how she is not afraid to tell her brother the sad truth behind the meat. She is very unapologetically herself and does not think a lot about her brother's feelings.