(I would have posted this sooner, but due to Blogger.com not working I couldn't)
" 'You have a Japanese flag in the tansu. Burn it or bury it. Hide all your Japanese books in the chicken coop. Don't talk in Japanese when there're non-Japanese around' " (78). When I first read that quote the frist thought that ran through my mind was, "What ever happened to taking pride in being Japanese?" To me it seemed to a reoccuring theme in this book is taking pride in being who you are, or well your culture at least. They are always talking about number one sons and not disgracing the family name or the Japanese. I found it interesting that right when they hear about Pearl Harbor they seem to throw all of that right out the window!
I understand that they feel ashamed for what Japan had done, but still after everything that they worked so hard to teach their children they atomatically seem to say, well now that Japan has disgraced itself it's okay to hide who you are. I just think that they are going to far to hide that they are Japanese, which they couldn't do anyways so why not just continue to be proud of themselves?
Sara,
ReplyDeleteI don't necessarily think that they were ashamed of being Japanese. It was their natural reaction because they knew that others would target them. If they acted as American as possible they wouldn't stand out as much. We have to remember that people tend to judge others based on their color and race. This happens regardless of whether those people are guilty of a wrongdoing or not.
This is why they encouraged their children to draw as little attention to themselves as possible. It was a way of protecting them. I know it appears as if they're ashamed of where they came from, but in reality they were ashamed of what their people had done. Due to being Japanese, everyone around them was going to stereotype them and this is what they were trying to avoid.
Hi Sara -
ReplyDeleteI am sure they were certainly surprised about what the Japanese government did, but the culture doesn't come from the government it comes from the people. Therefore if they were ashamed of Japan it was because of the government not the Japanese culture.
Thank you,
Sarah Baker
Hi Sara,
ReplyDeleteI was thinking a lot of the same things as well. Considering what was happening at the time with Japan attacking Pearl Harbor, it seemed like they also had to do what they could to protect themselves from having people think that they had anything to do with the attack. As they mentioned, they could not even have more than 3 Japanese be togethor without having the military think that another attack was being planned. If we compare this time to what had happened on 9-11, I don't know about you but I did begin to stereotype towards people who looked like the people that attacked NY. I never have before and now I no longer do stereotype, however I have learned to become more aware of my surroundings and expect the unexpected.
(: Hi Sara,
ReplyDeleteI had the same question running through my head when reading that part of the book. I believe they are not ashamed of who they are but only disagree with their government. They can't just forget about who they are and pretend nothing didn't happen, but they could only hope that everyone else will realize it was not their choice to attack Pearl Harbor.