This book is about the Japanese internment camps that were set up in America during World War II, and how it affected this particular family. It tells the story of the separation of the family members, hardships, and hatred that they had to live with during this time period. It also helps to open our eyes to the irony of the whole situation, and how our government can contradict themselves over some of the issues we were fighting for. The book tells the story from Jeanne Wakatsuki, the main character, point of view, and how she and her family struggled to make it through this time period in American History. The book is told from Jeannes own experiences in her own town, how her peers at school treated her, and what it was like being uprooted from their home and being put into the Japanese internment camp of Manzanar. The book with the news of Pearl Harbor, and the reactions from the Wakatsuki family.
It also begins with her father being taken away for supposedly supplying oil to Japanese submarines of the coast while he was fishing. It also goes into some detail on how their neighbors, and people throughout their town treated them after the news of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It helps to kind of shed some light on one particular girls point of view, and how she is confused on why people are being so mean to her and her family. the book also goes into some detail on how it felt to be split up from her father and how they felt like prisoners in a country they called home. The book also gives great detail of life in these camps. This particular book focused only on Manzanar, a Japanese internment camp near Mammoth.
It gives good details on their cramped living situations, and how that there was no privacy, and how uncomfortable it was in the beginning. It describes that women used to put boxes over their heads in the restroom, so they didnt have to look at anyone, and it thought it would offer them a little privacy also. It talks about the games, activities, and chores that the children would play to pass the time also. It also described the mess hall, and the meals that they had to eat over and over. Another thing that really was amazing to me, is that the government tried to tell them that these camps were for their own protection, yet they were surrounded by barbed wire, and guard towers. During the final chapters of this book, the author does a great job on describing the tough time the Japanese had returning into society.
After the Japanese were released from these camps and allowed to return to their homes, America still held a fear and hatred towards these people. She does a great job describing how hard it was for her to return back into society, and how the people she had known growing up looked at her, and viewed her, and all the comments and reactions that she had to listen to and take form people that she didnt even know. These camps only stopped the bleeding during the war, the after the war their release was like opening the wound again. Executive Order 9066 that President Franklin Rossevelt passed, was probably one of America darkest moments.
Here is America, fighting a war in Europe, against a German government who has put Jews, and other minorities into similar camps. Grant it, these American camps were not death camps, but they made Japanese Americans live in harsh living conditions because America was afraid of these people. The government divided families, removed them from their homes and lives, and forced them to enter these camps, so that we could sleep better at night. These camps really illustrated the type of atmosphere there was in America during this time period.
Most of the Japanese who were put into these camps, were Japanese Americans, and had never been to Japan, but knew about it from what they had heard from others about the country and had some of the traditions passed on to them from other generations. We segregated these people from our society out of fear and hate, from what had happened to Pearl Harbor. In this time period, America had a lot going on, and were fighting a war in both the east and west. There was fear of a Japanese attack on the west coast, and that only helped create an even more tense situation.
So the natural reaction would be fear, but we grouped all Japanese into one category, and allowed our fear to play a major role, and not our common sense, and respect of their constitutional rights. These camps that the Japanese were put into during World War II were horrible, and really ruined most of their lives. They will be scarred for the rest of their lives with images, and recollections of their time spent in these camps. Many of these people could not return to society in America and chose to go back to Japan where they felt that they might be able to get on with their lives, and put the times that they spent in the internment camps behind them.
For those who decided to stay here in America, they were forced to live with the hatred that some Americans felt towards them, and to live and work through all of these problems that faced them. This was a great book, and a very informational, historical reference to a particular Japanese girl struggles during this time. This book clearly illustrated one of the darkest time periods in American history, and a time that many people would like to forget, and wish had never happened.
