Dehumanization In Unbroken

The U.S. internment of people of Japanese descent during the 1940s was a major event in U.S. history, but it is often overlooked by many. It affected hundreds of thousands of people of Japanese descent, whether they were citizens or not. The incarceration of those placed in camps was affected mentally and it caused many of the internees to develop PTSD or otherwise commonly known as post-traumatic stress disorder (Potts, 1994, p. 1). The camps affected how the Japanese were viewed in society during the time period of the camps and following the liberation of them. It also changed how the Japanese viewed society. This paper will focus on the cultural and social aspects of the Internal Improvements.

Well-known nonfiction author Laura Hillenbrand, in her best-selling biography, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption, describes the chilling reality faced by those living in Japanese prisoner-of-war camps. As the title suggests, this is not the typical World War II tale of hardship that ends in liberation; rather, it follows the main character, Louis “Louie” Zamperini, through his childhood, Olympic performances, and military career leading up to his captivity, as well as his later marriage and many years of healing. Hillenbrand's purpose is to impress upon her readers the scale of this tragedy as well as remind them of the horror that so many nameless soldiers endured. She adopts an emotional yet straightforward tone in order to get readers to sympathize with the characters and truly understand what they went through. To do so, she manages to make the unique story of one man represent the thousands of others going through the same tragedy.

The autobiography illustrates personal experiences of discrimination and prejudice while also reporting the political occurrences during the United States’ involvement in World War II. After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the United States government unleashed unrestrained contempt for the Japanese residing in the nation. The general public followed this train of thought, distrusting the Japanese and treating them like something less than human. In a country of freedom and justice, no coalition stepped up to defend the people who had lived there most of or all of their lives; rather, people took advantage of the Japanese evacuation to take their property and belongings. The government released demeaning propaganda displaying comical Japanese men as monsters and rats, encouraging the public to be vigilant and wary toward anyone of Japanese descent. The abuse of the Japanese during this period was taken a little too lightly, the government apologizing too late and now minor education of the real cruelty expressed toward the nation’s own citizens. Now we see history repeating itself in society, and if we don’t catch the warning signs today, history may just come full

According to the novel Farewell to Manzanar, “I smiled and sat down, suddenly aware of what being of Japanese ancestry was going to be like. I wouldn’t be faced with physical attack, or with overt shows of hatred. Rather, I would be seen as someone foreign, or as someone other than American, or perhaps not be seen at all” (158). After the bombing at Pearl Harbor, the government saw all Japanese-Americans as enemies even though most, if not all of them, had done nothing wrong. They were taken from their homes and send to awful internment camps where they were treated as prisoners. The Japanese-Americans stayed in the camps four years, just because of where they come from. During this time Americans completely turned against the Japanese people living in their country and bombarded the news with anti-Japanese propaganda which showed how much racial discrimination there was, even back in the 1940s. While Farewell to Manzanar explores this concept, there are many questions in which the reader is left with. First, the Japanese-American Internment was fueled by more than war time panic, which reveals the question: what role did prejudice play in the Japanese-American Relocation? Then, there is the question: what modern day connections can you make with this time in American history? Lastly, this story leaves the reader with the question: do you think something like this could happen today? Farewell to Manzanar gives a glimpse of the lives of Japanese-Americans in the 1940s and

Following the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan, racial tensions increased in the United States, especially on the West Coast (Divine 898). The anti-Japanese sentiment led to President Franklin Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066, which gave military officials the power to limit the civil rights of Japanese Americans (Danzer 802). The order also authorized the forced relocation of all Japanese Americans to concentration camps (Divine 898). These camps were located in desolate deserts and flatlands in the interior of the United States (Sato 67). Two thirds of the 120,000 Japanese Americans who were forced to relocate were “Nisei”, or native born American citizens (Divine 898).

Startled by the surprise attack on their naval base at Pearl Harbor and anxious about a full-fledged Japanese attack on the United States’ West Coast, American government officials targeted all people of Japanese descent, regardless of their citizenship status, occupation, or demonstrated loyalty to the US. As my grandfather—Frank Matsuura, a nisei born in Los Angeles, California and interned in the Granada War Relocation Center (Camp Amache)—often

During the Second World War the Americans held 120,000 Japanese Americans in camps that was isolated, uncomfortable, and overcrowded. Even if their families were treated this way 33,000 Japanese Americans still served in the military. The Americans would see their Japanese neighbors as aliens and untrustworthy, however the Journalist would have false reports about them, which then made the suspense against the Japanese Americans bigger. Executive Order 9066 was signed on February 12, 1942 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and had 120,000 of his American soldiers go to the detention camps until the war was over. A few weeks after, there wasn’t any trials, so they had to force the Japanese Americans to go to the camps and had to abandon their

Imagine putting yourself in a scenario where extreme racial discrimination was in action and you were being taken into an internment camp, whether you were pleaded guilty or not. This was reality for the majority of Japanese American during the time of world war two. In the memoir Farewell to Manzanar, Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston describes the injustice committed against the 110,000 men, women, and children of Japanese ancestry who were interred by America during World War 2.

In World War II, when Japan became a threat to America, America took action and soon began the internment of Japanese Americans. Because they could not possibly put 110,000 in jail, they instead put most of the Japanese-American people in concentration camps in remote areas (Japanese- American Internment, ushistory.org). The author of our textbook, Eric Foner, described the internment of Japanese Americans in one of his author videos as “the greatest violation of civil liberties in American history other than the existence of slavery.” FDR was coerced into issuing Executive Order 9066, which led to the relocation of 110,000 people from their homes into isolated camps; two-thirds of these people were American citizens. The living conditions

fter the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Executive Order 9066 was given which lead to the wrongful incarceration of Japanese Americans. Not many people know about the Internment camps in the United States which detained more than 120,000 Americans of Japanese Ancestry. (“The Camps”) Life for Japanese americans in the internment camps was hard and transition back to normal life would be even harder.

Everyone in the United States was affected by World War II. The war meant sacrifice for everyone due to government rationing; however for others the sacrifice was far greater, it was the loss of freedom, a limb or loved one. The loss of freedom was not limited to those individuals that were captured and held as a POW in a foreign land, it also applies to the often overlooked Japanese Americans who were sent to internment camps in what was now their homeland, the United States. Prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor Japanese Americans struggled for freedom in the United States. They were discriminated against by not being allowed to own land or become citizens; they struggled for legal justice. In Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston’s memoir Farewell

With the arrival of WWII came the arrival of change. Jeanne Wakatsuki’s memoir, Farewell to Manzanar illustrates the countless struggles that Japanese Americans faced during World War II. Distrust among the white Americans and Japanese Americans was at an all time high due to the war in the Pacific Ocean with Japan. With the American government encouraging wartime propaganda, the Japanese were dehumanized and ultimately forced to move into internment camps. Farewell to Manzanar explores the resilience of the human nature by illustrating the struggle of prejudice in a WWII era America.

In internment camps cultural integrity was a problem. The Issei, or first generation Japanese who were older, were used to being very well honored and respected by the younger generation. In internment camps, age had no value. To a white soldier, a Japanese man was a “Japo” and nothing more. In traditional Japanese culture, the elderly were very highly respected. However, at the camps their “traditional authority” was stripped away and this “contributed to the demoralization of the Issei” (62

71 years have passed since WWII, how much have we changed since that time. What changes as human beings to we need to make to make the world a better place. This essay is completely based of what I can recall from discrimination in WWII and how I have noticed and experienced the changes that have been made since then. These changes are not only seen within the US but from my time I have spent studying Japan and how their culture was effected by the war. During world war II there were many examples of race and gender discrimination. After world war I African American’s, Mexican American’s, native American’s, along with

It’s cold outside, just below freezing, and tonight I will slip into my warm bed, pull up the soft blankets and fall to sleep. Tomorrow morning there will be snow, yet in the morning I may walk down the stairs, make some coffee, and watch the world unfold on the early morning news, as I eat my breakfast and get ready for the day. I’ll watch marvel at my pre-teen son as he bumbles around the house half asleep…I think. It’s a wonder he doesn’t hurt himself. We’ll head off to school and work and take on the day just like we did yesterday, the day before, and the day before that. While life goes on as usual, I start to realize how much I take it for granted. I realize that not everyone has the freedom that I have, not everyone enjoys the comforts I live in. Not everyone can come and go as they please. While we tend to view America as a promising, free land, it was not always that way for Americans of Japanese descent. Over the course of World War II, Japanese Americans faced and unprecedented challenge when they were shipped off to internment camps around the country. To appreciate what they experienced in these insufficient living environments we should gain an understanding of where these Americans came from, what they were able to take to the camps with them, what they discovered when they arrived, and how they adapted to their living environments. Although the Japanese Americans were being held in captivity, their creativity, resolve to prove their loyalty, and