Oda depicts Corporal Kon, who insists on pronouncing his name in the Japanese manner rather than the Korean equivalent ‘Kim,’as determined to beat the Japanese at their own game by proving that he is the best soldier in the regiment. It was unusual for Koreans to be inducted on active duty with the Japanese forces. Instead, most were civilian employees required to perform labor for the military. Many of the so-called ‘Japanese’ prisoners during the first years of the war were in fact Korean laborers, mustered in their villages and sent to the islands of the Pacific to build airfields or harbor facilities. Kon, however, insists that he is a Japanese soldier, even though he comes from ‘the peninsula.’ Donald Keene’s translation and analysis of Oda’s novella illustrates the modus operandi of Oda’s penchant for in-between interstitial characters, trickster figure’s, and those who do not neatly fit into stereotypical typecasts. Oda breaks conventions, explores taboos and most importantly transcends simplistic black and white dichotomies so prevalent in our daily lives.
One of Oda’s most successful novellasis ‘“Aboji” o fumu’ [Stomping on Father, 1996], about his Korean in-laws, and he received the 24th Kawabata Yasunari Prize for Literature in 1997 for this very personal story.
Aboji and Omoni are ‘Koreans residents in Japan from the South.’ Yet it is complicated to separate each into their respective political categories and I have no intention of discussing this and that about
Obasan written by Joy Kogawa is a moving novel translating the silence breaching upon the Japanese Canadians during the late 1940s. Obasan is a novel that looks back towards the discrimination and prejudice through the hidden Canadian History. The perspective of the story is told in first person of the main character, Naomi. Kogawa’s literary style brings life to characters such as naomi, describing her experience of silence and cultural separation with just only words. Living through first perspective not only reveals detailed imagery of the surrounding, but the beliefs, thoughts and fears of Naomi.
Part III, The War in Japanese Eyes, allows the reader to receive a Japanese perspective and also grasp how devastating the results of war were. Chapter 8, “The Pure Self,” Dower explains the Japanese traditions and culture, along with the humiliation and discrimination the Japanese received. The Japanese believed their culture was unique, and spent this period of time during the war focusing on themselves and their race. Whereas yellow was the color of illness and treason and the Japanese were usually referred to as yellow, the color white symbolized purity which stood for the American race. On the contrary, the Americans were also known as demonic.
The novel “things fall apart” is about the fatal demise of Okonkwo and the igbo culture of Umuofia. Okonkwo is well known and respected leader in his community, who is successful in everything he does, such as wrestling and farming. He is quick with his hands and takes pride in his accomplishments. Okonkwo’s family relationship makes him a sympathetic character because of his support and an unsympathetic character because of his cruelty. In many ways Okonkwo showed that he had no sympathy for others , However at times he could be sympathetic.
He talks about how he read about after Pearl Harbor, Japanese-Americans were ready to enlist in the army, but at first they were turned down because their background. Then eventually Japanese-Americans were accepted because of a wartime manpower shortage. “They fought with amazing, incredible courage and valor. They were sent on the most dangerous missions and they sustained the highest combat casualty rate of any unit proportionally.” They fought for their country even though that same country had denied them service and locked them up in the first place.
The analysis of this short story reveals a narrator of an Afro-American community who wanted to be part of the white culture but in vain, because he was confronted to tragic events, such as his brother’s imprisonment at an early age for drugs’ deals. This event makes him realize that he is part of that society where even in the school students are addicted to drugs. The story focuses on the necessity to accept its own community’s heritage as a factor to reach any political social o economical purpose. The narrator finds peace really when he reconnects with his family and his heritage that he tried hard to sacrifice in order to live.
Colder Than Hell: A Marine Rifle Company at Chosin Reservoir was written and published by Joseph R. Owen in 1996. This book gives us a riveting point-of-view of the early and uncertain days of the Korean War through the eyes of Owen himself, as a platoon leader (PL) in a Marine rifle company. As a PL of a mortar section in Baker-One-Seven-Baker Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment- Owen witnessed his hastily assembled men of a few regulars and reservists (who to mention some that have not gone to boot camp) quickly harden into the superb Baker-One-Seven known today. He makes it known quickly (in the foreword and the preface) that some of the major problems he initially encountered was due to how unprepared his unit was. Owen makes the
During World War II, efforts were made to make Japanese- American internees and American POWs in Japan “invisible.” At POW camps, guards tried to deprive the POWs of their dignity. Hillenbrand writes, “On Kwajalein the guards sought to deprive them of something that sustained them even as all else had been lost: dignity.” (Unbroken, 182) In addition to being beaten and starved, the men were deprived of their dignity, “This self-respect and sense of self-worth” (Unbroken, 182) essential for life.
Japanese Relocation The relocation and internment of the Japanese in America is often seen as one of our nation's greatest mistakes. For many, the quest is to now understand why we committed such an atrocious act. The most common explanations include racist attitudes, military ‘necessity’, and economic reasons. Japanese relocation was a disgracefully racist act that the Government of the U.S committed, an act that was virtually unnecessary and unjustified.
Although the cultural collision challenges both Okonkwo’s and Nwoye’s identity, Nwoye’s outcome is an example of being successful in cultural collision is being flexible and able to adjust to the opponent’s culture while Okonkwo’s outcome, suicide, shows resiting to a different culture can bring a catastrophe. Achebe’s two main character’s responses enhance the overall message of the novel by displaying how these main characters changed when two cultures collide one another. It is crucial to be open-minded and adjustable in cultural collision in order to be
Escape from Camp 14 is the true story of Shin Dong-hyuk, who is the only known person to have been born in and escape from a North Korean labor camp. After numerous interviews, the book’s author, Blaine Harden, details the reader about Shin’s life both inside and outside the camp as he assimilates into different societies. As critical information is revealed, Harden uncovers the corruption in the political landscape in North Korea. Shin’s life in Camp 14 accentuates the struggles to gain basic human freedom and elucidates food as an even more precious commodity. The straightforward diction and intriguing combination of rhetorical devices effectively expresses the brutality and oppression in the North Korean prison camp.
The boy’s description of the Japanese prisoners shows that he’s assimilated the prevalent racist beliefs about Japanese people. Using racially insensitive language, the boy expresses the stereotype that “all Asian people look alike.” Additionally, their perceived “inscrutability” was the exact reason why the U.S. government locked up innocent Japanese Americans citizens in the first place. According to Otsuka (2003), "On the first day of the camp, the mother tells him to never touch the fences and to never to say the Emperor’s name aloud".
Child’s Play, written by Higuchi Ichiyo, is a short novel centred around the growth of children, particularly those associated with the pleasure quarters. The story takes place over a few days, nevertheless, we are given an idea on the backgrounds of the three main characters, Shōta, Midori, and Nobu, and watch them gradually lose their childlike innocence. Although not explicitly stated, the last three paragraphs suggest that all three protagonists have followed the footsteps of their parents and in Midori’s case, her older sister. This essay discusses the impending tragic future of children who are destined to take after the occupations of their family.
Clint Eastwood’s “Letters from Iwo Jima” is a Japanese-American war film based on the American invasion and subsequent Japanese defence on the island of Iwo Jima. The protagonists of the movie are General Tadamichi Kuribayashi played by Ken Watanabe, and the fictional character Saigo, played by Kazunari Ninomiya. The movie shows the Japanese perspective of the defence on the island of Iwo Jima, to prevent the Americans from achieving a launching point for an invasion of mainland Japan. It follows Kuribayashi struggle to command his troops and defend the island. Meanwhile, it follows Saigo’s struggle to survive the ensuing onslaught to return home to his wife and child.
Introduction In 1876, Captain Nathan Algren, an ex- United States Army Captain is traumatized by experience fighting in the civil war and Indian war. Algren accepts a job by a Japanese businessman to train the Imperial Japanese Army to inhibit a samurai rebellion, led by Katsumoto Moritsugu. He sails to Japan. Most of the soldiers being trained are just slightly better than peasants and farmers that are not experienced.
The drama begins with the actor (Odarion also known as OD) giving an insight about his tragic death, preparing the audience for the devastation that lie ahead. It seems to be that gang relations are the only forms of social connectivity that we engage in. As a result, youth are the “hot topic”in headlines of the local newspaper – “ Nineteen Year Old Male Gun Down!”. No longer are we able to settle disputes as civilized individuals, but rather resort to violence. Violence and social decay have become realities on our Bahama island, where chaos and greed have consumed a generations people who have little hope left.