Otsuka Blog 4

            Although the shortest chapter in the entire novel, I feel that “Confession” is one of the most significant, because the reader gets a close look at what Japanese people went through emotionally. The other chapters are very superficial, and the reader has to do close reading in every chapter to pick up on carefully placed emotion, symbolism, irony, and underlying message. The final chapter of the book is more up front and in the readers face. How different this chapter is compared to the rest is made evident right off the bat, because it is written in first person as opposed to third person. This is a dramatic transition and makes what the father is saying more direct and personable, and the accusations in the false confession more mind boggling and ironic. At multiple points throughout the chapter it almost feels like the father is addressing you, the reader, as the accuser. There is a sense of confusion and anger in this chapter that is not as evident in the other chapters. The reader can tell from the way the father is speaking that he literally cannot believe everything he is being accused of, and that he is angry that the accusations never really seem to stop. The father is definitely the every man character in this chapter. Although he may have been accused of more than one terrorist act, it is difficult to fathom that he was actually accused of doing all of these things. Some of the accusations are probably what he heard other men being accused of; men that he could relate to and that he understood on an intimate level, because they knew exactly what he was going through. The father, along with all of the other men falsely imprisoned, lost their sense of self, their identity. They know longer knew what to believe, because their were so many lies going around, and because the truth could not save them. The words coming out of their mouth did not matter; their race and ethnicity did. The fact that these men were Japanese was more important than the type of men they had become. I believe this is the significance of the false confession. The father admitting to “doing” all of these terrorist acts was his way of rebelling against the system and the way they tortured him. He made a mockery of what the system put him through by showing society how ridiculous and absurd what was happening and what the Japanese were being accused of really was. One of my favorite parts of the entire book was the sarcasm and cynical attitude it ended with.

“So go ahead and lock me up. Take my children. Take my wife. Freeze my assets. Seize my crops. Search my office. Ransack my house. Cancel my insurance. Auction off my business. Hand over my lease. Assign me a number. Inform me of my crime. Too short, too dark, too ugly, too proud. Put it down in writing – is nervous in conversation, always laugh loudly at the wrong time, never laughs at all -  and I’ll sign on the dotted line. Is treacherous and cunning, is ruthless, is cruel. And if they ask you someday what it was I most wanted to say, please tell them, if you would, it was this:

                        I’m sorry.

                        There. That’s it. I’ve said it. Now can I go?”

           

            This ending was just the icing on the cake for me, for both this chapter and the entire novel. The father basically gave the system the middle finger and said how can you really do this to me in a “free” country. It is absurd and unethical. He said what they wanted to hear, because the truth did not matter.

Otsuka Blog 3

            After our brief discussion on identity in class today, I decided to expand on this more in my blog post, because I feel that it is extremely significant to understanding and getting the most out of this story. Throughout this entire novel, knowing who you are and where you belong has been the most prominent theme. In the beginning of the novel, all of the family members identified with being American more than they identified with being Japanese, and each demonstrated this in their own way. By the end of the novel, all of the characters had a change in identity and felt they could relate to being Japanese more than they could relate to being American. I feel that the characters that had the greatest change in identity were the boy and the girl.

            In the beginning of the novel, the girl is presented to readers as a typical teenage girl. “The door to the girl’s room was closed. Above the doorknob was a note that had not been there the day before. It said DO NOT DISTRUB.” This is a very Americanized when compared to the Japanese culture where women and children are expected to be submissive and do what they are asked without question and meant to blend in. In the same chapter, the girl demonstrates that she is confused with her identity, because she feels that she does not look as American as she feels. “’Is there anything wrong with my face?’ she asked. ‘Why?’ said the women. ‘People are staring.”’ Here, the girl is clearly demonstrating that she knows that her physical Japanese characteristics make her different, and that even though she feels more American than Japanese, people do not perceive her that way. By the end of the novel, the girl is identifying more with the Japanese culture than the American culture, primarily because of the lifestyle change that came with being at the camp. The changes in the girl were subtler than the changes in the boy. The girl’s biggest change was that she became more submissive and ready to please. In addition, she knew that no one would look at them or treat them the same.

            The boy also changed which culture he identified more with as well. In the beginning of the novel, he was your typical little boy. He enjoyed spending time with his father and loved baseball. He had a sense of innocence that could not be missed. The first time we see a change in the boy is when they are talking about horses and jockeys. The boy said that he wanted to be a jockey. Someone told him he should want to grow-up to be a big American man instead, therefore identifying the Japanese culture as small and weak, like a jockey. When the boy hears, this he says he wants to grow up to be a strong, American boy. Whether or not he realizes it, he is distinguishing between the two cultures; he wants to go from being a weak Japanese boy to a strong American boy. In addition, he would also walk around the camp muttering the Emperor’s name, even though it was forbidden. This deliberate action shows that he does not want to identify with the American culture right now, because he does not like what they are doing to the Japanese.

            Overall, there is a clear identity and sense of belonging transition throughout the novel. The family goes from clearly feeling and identifying more with American culture to Japanese culture. The family started to have some misidentity in the camp, because even though they felt American, they were being treated like Japanese, an enemy of the state in most Americans’ eyes. Even though they do not want to identity with the Japanese culture because they do not want to be seen as the enemy, they do, because of their experiences. 

Otsuka Blog 2

            I chose to examine the ideas that identity that have presented thus far in the novel for the girl, the boy, and the woman. I chose to examine this, because it seems to be a running theme throughout the novel. The family seems to be struggling with incorporating and accepting both their Japanese identity and heritage and their American identity and future.

            From what I have read so far in the novel, the girl seems to be struggling with her sense of identity, and seems to be torn between who she is physically an who she wants to be mentally. How much she struggles with this internally is evident when she asked her mother if there is anything wrong with her face. This demonstrates that she is struggling with the fact that she looks Japanese and that his causes people to stare and treat her differently, when she considers herself American and feels American. A second incident in which the girl struggles with her identity is when she writes her name on an ordinary deck of cards and throws the card out the window. By the girl doing this, she was trying to make sure that she meant something and that she would not be forgotten. Being a pre-teen and a teenager is difficult. There are so many emotional and physical changes happening at the same time, that it can be difficult to handle. As she is trying to discover who she is, she is forced to not only deal with the normal teenage feelings, but with her life being torn apart, because of an identity she does not feel connected with.

            Even though the boy is much younger and therefore less mature, identity is something that he struggles with as well. I believe the first time this is made evident is when he says he wants to be a jockey. When he says he wants to be a1 jockey, he is told that he should want to grow up to be a big, strong American boy, implying that jockeys are small and weak. There is a lot of symbolism and irony in these few statements. Horses are generally perceived as strong, beautiful animals; this is what the boy aspires to be. Jockeys are typically petite in stature, which is generally viewed as a weakness in American culture, and how the Japanese are perceived. By the boy saying he wants to grow up to be a big, strong American boy, he is trying to dissociate with his Japanese identity.

            The woman also struggles with the identity, as a person, wife, mother, and woman.  Since her husband was arrested, she had to not only fulfill her role as mother, but had to step up and do what her husband would typically do, such as take care of white dog. How much she is struggling with this is evident when she has her breakdown and drinks wine after the kids went to bed. She could not break down at any other point and knew she would not be able to breakdown again for a long time, because she was expected to be the strong one and had to be the one to provide her kids with strength and courage to deal with what lies ahead. It is evident in the first few pages of the book that she struggles with her identity as a person and woman when she does to the hardware store. Joe refuses to look at her in the eye, which makes her feel insignificant. This is also the first time that she calls him by his name, crossing a boundary that is drawn in her Japanese culture, but is not as definitive in American culture.

            All three of these characters are trying to figure out where they fit in within this society and within their new conditions. As they struggle to figure out who they are and what their identity is, the government and their fellow Americans are struggling with what identity they associate with Japanese Americans and how they fit in to the picture with the current global situation. 

The Emperor is Divine Blog 1

            So far for me, this novel has been extremely monotone and dry, which makes it difficult for me to continuously read at points.  I can read a section, but need a break after, because there is not the type of emotional appeal that I am accustomed to. With that being said, I think there is a different type of emotional appeal that I am now starting to get used to after having read the first three sections. In addition, I think that if the book was written differently, it would have taken away from the story.

            Although it is monotone, readers can definitely pick up on the sense of strength it portrays, especially when it comes to the woman. The woman is trying to be strong for so many people, she cannot show how she really feels and how much these events are ripping her apart. The first time readers really get to see how difficult of a time the woman is having and how much she is struggling to do what must get done is when she breaks down after she lets the bird into the wilderness after the children are sleeping. She just sits down, has some wine, and cries; something I believe that every woman and person would need to do if they were going through what she was going through. There is a definite sense of irony, because the only time the woman can display how she truly feels is at night, in the dark, when no one can see her. It is like the mask can finally come of in the darkness and safety of the silence.

            It was after reading this section that I could see the emotional appeal in the novel, and this type of emotion is definitely something that I can relate to. The woman seems kind of numb, because she is trying to not let the heavy burden she is carrying take over the best of her. She is doing her best to prepare for the worst while still trying to hope for the best. She does not show emotion, because she believes that she cannot; that it is a sign of weakness.

            I can definitely relate to this character. Although I have not been through and had to do anything as traumatic as her, I am the same way. I rarely if ever show emotion in front of people, especially if it will make me look vulnerable and weak. I have walls that are very very high and very very difficult to break down, as does the woman in the book. We have emotion, but we do not know how to handle it and chose not to. We chose to be the strong one, the one that everyone can always rely on, the one to be there and not only pick up the pieces, but put them back together. We take our emotions and do our best to put them into actions. The actions are a front so that no one ever really questions whether or not you are alright.

Push Blog 2

The role of literacy is very significant in this novel. In the beginning of the novel, Precious is an illiterate teenager that does not even know her alphabet or how to read numbers on a page. At the same time, she wants to evolve into something greater; she just does not know how to do so or the resources that are available to her.

In Push, literacy serves as a means to identity formation. Through what she learns at the Each One Teach One program, she discovers who she is, what is capable of, and what she wants out of life. Precious does through a lot of journaling. The journal becomes such a distinct part of the novel, it evolves into a character. The journal is something that she can always turn to as a way to get her thoughts and feelings out. I believe that one of the reasons that the journal was so effective for Precious is because Ms. Rain would write back to her and force her to think a little bit farther than she had. Before the Each One Teach One program, Precious though that no one cared about her, and in reality she was right. Her mother and father both physically, emotionally, and sexually abused her on a regular basis. Social institutions, such as public education and public health, failed her by not intervening when they should have. Ms. Rain gave her hope and motivation by showing that she cared and boosting Precious’s confidence through the journaling.

Writing served as a means for Precious to express her story and the change in her ability to express herself can be traced throughout the novel. In the beginning of the novel, Precious had trouble saying what she was feeling; she could only really say what happened and give an account of the events that occurred. As the novel progressed, she was able to communicate to the audience how she felt about different things and how things influenced her and her thoughts. For example, when readers are first introduced to Precious, she is giving an account of her physical self and how she planned on writing. Her spelling was awful and she demonstrated no understanding of sentence structure. By the end of the novel, she was spelling many of the words she used correctly and could format a sentence. Precious could use descriptive words when describing a situation and communicate what she was feeling.

All of these are crucial elements to the story, because they demonstrate character development. Through her experiences as a student at the Each One Teach One program, readers see Precious develop as a person, woman, teenager, child, individual and mother. This growth as a person and individual is demonstrated to readers as she moves from being illiterate to literate; what society would consider a waste of time and space to a person that deserves to have investments made in; a woman that wants nothing more than to be a productive member of society. Precious understood that the first step on that journey had to be an education.

Push Blog 1

     There are many problems in American social institutions that Sapphire is trying to bring to the attention of the audience throughout the novel. Every country has a system and every system has a flaw. The American system is extremely flawed and these flaws tend to reflect in the drastically different way people from different socioeconomic levels are served.

One of the first institutions that Sapphire is highlighting the problems of is that of education. The education system in the United States needs to be completely restructured and better meet the needs of all children, especially those that are economically and therefore socially disadvantaged. It has been proven time and time again that students do better and have more success in smaller classroom sizes, but society is slow to make this change. New York City is paving the way by shutting down schools that are not meeting performance standards and opening more focused schools that can give children the time and attention they need to be successful. We also need to make sure that schools are equipped with the necessary materials to have students be successful. When I was in high school, I read a story about a high school that did not have running water in the chemistry labs, had text books that were about twenty years old, did not have a functioning cafeteria and teachers that did not teach. The education system needs more teachers and people like Miss Rain, whom actually care about the students and have expectations for them.

Another institution that Sapphire highlighted in the novel through there multiple failures to protect Precious is the welfare system. Precious should have been immediately taken away from her parents, but no one cared enough to do anything to protect her. Instead, she was physically, mentally, emotionally, and sexually abused for years on end. Her social worker encouraged her to do better, but would recorded that she did not think Precious was capable of more than cleaning toilets, when she should have been trying to find and provide the resources that would have allowed her to be successful. As sad is it to say that the social worker failed her, I honestly do not think it is surprising. Social workers have too many cases on their plate to be as effective as they should be, and that is where both the state and federal government failed Precious. Both levels of government should have provided more resources for the social workers to better serve their clients.

     The medial and judicial institution also both failed Precious. The doctors and nurses should have followed through when they realized what type of home situation Precious was dealing with. Instead, they just passed her off to the police, whom she did not trust. The medical professionals should have stayed with her and encouraged to utilize the police as a resource and a tool. The police should have done more by investigating and finding out what was really going on in Precious’s home life.

     Multiple intuitions failed Precious repeatedly. It is stories like this that motivate me. I want to be a resource and tool for those who are under privileged and guide them to the resources they need to be successful. Public health allows me to do that. I can utilize what I have learned here at SCSU about research, program planning, health promotion, and environmental health to create a better life for people, because they can not create it themselves.

Bechdel Blog 3

            I decided to examine one of the discussion questions presented in class on Friday: What evidence shows the time period of the book? I chose to consider this question, because of how much society has changed in a relatively short amount of time. When you really stop and think about it, the setting of this book starts off really only about forty years ago. In forty years, our society and culture has completely changed the way it runs and functions and what qualifies something as socially acceptable.

            I think that what makes the time period most evident in the book is people’s attitudes, especially the father. The father has a constant struggle with his sexuality and his gender identity throughout the graphic novel, but it is an extremely interpersonal struggle; what some would classify as a dirty little secret. The mother contributes to the sense that this is a dirty little secret that could destroy the family, because she also does what she has to keep it hidden. The father also tries to push the traditional gender identity onto Alison. When she tries to be herself, he forces feminism on her. He wants Alison to be the traditional girl and woman, whether it is because he is trying to protect her from the pain he felt due to his own struggle or because he is a little bit jealous that she will have a greater opportunity to express her sexual identity and preferred gender role.

            I also feel that this idea of the nuclear family speaks to the time period of the book. This is the “traditional” American family: a father, mother, son, daughter, and pet with the house and family business. With that being said, I feel like all families, especially families with money, power, and influence, did everything in their power to cover up that could tarnish their reputation. These actions are definitely taken by the Bechdel family in the book, especially the mother. I think that she did this out of motherly instinct even though she is not the most involved mother in the book. She knew the type of judgment and criticism that would be passed on her and her family in such a small, close knit community if anything seemed out of the ordinary.

            Alison never seemed to really care about fitting the gender identity that was associated with being a woman, which I also think is a sign of the times, because that is when everything started changing. She was more concerned about being herself, but was receiving pressure from her family to do what she needed to fit in. I wonder how much of what was happening with all of the civil rights movements Alison was actually exposed to growing up, because it would seem small towns would not focus as much on this or preach much to this, but there is one in every bunch to go against the grain.