Symbolism In Julie Otsuka's When The Emperor Was Divine

Mr. Jones, the farmer, goes to sleep drunk one night when the most respected animal calls a meeting. Major, as the pig is called, waits until everyone is settled to begin describing the gist of the dream he had had the night before. He tells them that their lives are much harder than they need be. The only reason why they aren’t happy is that they must deal with humans. He says humans are useless and profit off everyone else’s hard work. Unless they rebel, their lives and those of their children will never get better. The group decides that all four-legged or winged animals are friends and will not be harmed when they eventually rebel. Then, Major sings a lively old song that everyone immediately loves, Beasts of England, but they all

The white cat was also used to foreshadow the passing away of Grandma. Foreshadowing was used to allow the audience to realize that Grandma would still make an impression even after her death. “I will always be with you, Little Sek-Lung, but in a different way… you’ll see.” (115).

The novel clearly reiterates the notion that more people conform than rebel when confronted with authoritarian control. The animals in the novel are divided into two categories. Those who have knowledge and therefore power, and those who lack knowledge and therefore are submissive. The main difference is that the submissive animals such as the horses and sheep represent the people that chose to stay uneducated, as it is a much less difficult pathway. They chose this because knowing consequences creates threatening actions against the livelihood of the animals. Despite the animals suffering from violence, poor conditions, and being overworked, they continue to conform as it becomes an easier lifestyle for them. The repetition of the lines “Napoleon is always right” and “I will work harder” showcases how the farm animals follow the routine of others and resign to conformity as their means of life, for it is an easier, simpler outlook to life for them. The idea of being an outlier and having a voice is forsaken by the animals, as the narrative evolves they witness more and more unruly acts of behaviour from the pigs, who are controlling the farm. The emotive language used within the line “Silent and terrified, the animals crept back into the barn” effectively demonstrate how a wave of melancholic and frightened emotions flood through the farm animals, creating a sense of compliance within. The use of threatening tone within the lines “At this there was a terrible baying sound outside, and nine enormous dogs wearing

Everyone needs hope in their lives for the good times and the bad. Hope is an essential part of human life, which is sometimes symbolized into objects. Legend by Marie Lu is a dystopian story about Day, a slum sector teen criminal, and June, a wealthy military prodigy. Marie Lu uses Day’s pendant to symbolize the hope and freedom Day and June yearn for.

     The book uses animals instead of human characters and this is personification. The book has three main types of animals that each symbolizes the different cultures during the Holocaust. The Jews are symbolized as mice, the Nazi Germans as cats, and the Poles as pigs. The reason why Spiegelman uses animals instead of humans is because he wants to give the reader a better understanding of what type of animal symbolizes the different types of social classes that are being addressed.

     There is also a message about the relationship with, and abuse of, nature. This new chance for a more peaceful existence works on the assumption that the horses are there voluntarily. This makes the newfound relationship more meaningful, less precarious: “that free servitude still can pierce our hearts”. There is also therein a warning that the world cannot work where one force is overpowering, such as technology or the reign of man.

However, because of what white signifies, we can assume she is also using it to protect herself metaphorically from all the fear and hatred out in the world that is driving her crazy. Especially when she tells her son to “tell [her] when it’s over” (93). By ‘it’ she means the war, because that is the true source of all the violence and worry that causes the mother to want to be alone. The mother demonstrates how fear causes isolation because she expresses fear when she is startled by the dinner bell and it leads to her isolating herself with the white curtain.

One dark, misty night on Manor farm, the pigs were partying. They partied in the Jones house with Mr. Pilkington Napolean didn’t let any other animals into the house besides the pigs were so fat they couldn’t stand on two feet, they had to crawl. On the other hand the other animals were locked up in the barn and very mistreated; they were only fed leftover whiskey, milk, and apples.

In her novel When the Emperor Was Divine, author Julie Otsuka presents the long-lasting effects that isolation and alienation have on a person’s self- image and identity. During WWII, Japanese-Americans living in the United States were forced to move to isolated and horrific internment camps. The US government ensured they were separated from the rest of the country. This even included their own families. When the Japanese-Americans were allowed to return home after the war, the result of the isolation they experienced created irreversible damage. They continued to experience alienation, often making it impossible for them to recover emotionally, mentally and financially. Otsuka uses characterization to bring to life the traumas of the war and the effects it had on her characters, the girl, her mother and her father.

The horses in the story represent strength, passion, and freedom of spirit. The respect the ‘vaqueros,' Spanish cowboys, have for horses appear many times in the book. A perfect example told by Luis, "The old man only said that it was pointless to speak of there being no horses in the world for God would not permit such a thing" (111). This means that the vaqueros keep horses in such a regard that they see them almost as being godly. Vaqueros help John Grady believe his first notion that humans are like horses because Luis saw how important one is to another.

Joe and Jane live at the new ranch for many years, but as they age Jane becomes increasingly worried about Joe getting hurt in his work. One of her recurring dreams depicts him being thrown from a horse. Soon after, Jane sees a black stallion in a corral that is

His friends teased him and called him dog-lover” (Welch 4.) White Man’s Dog was not as wealthy as his counterparts and often envisioned his life with a woman. However his luck soon turned around when he goes on a horse-taking party to the Crow tribe. Although the party has bittersweet success, White Man’s Dog proved he was a man when he killed another during the raid. “When the news of this deed got around, many of the men had honored him with scalp songs”(Welch 62.) After this event, White Man’s Dog quickly rises through the Pikuni ranks even though he is uncomfortable with the idea of the slaying in the first place. The cataclysmic event is a major turning point in the development of White Man’s Dog as he is finally recognized as an equal within his

To start off, the character Napoleon from Animal Farm, symbolizes Fidel Castro. Fidel Castro removed Batista's government with relation to Napoleon taking account and making Snowball go away, naming himself the official of the farm. When Castro called off elections to call himself the president for life was also like what Napoleon did. Secondly, the dogs in Animal Farm represents Fidel Castro's army. The dogs are meant to show authority, being Napoleon’s soldiers.

For the rest of the year, the animals work at a backbreaking pace to farm enough food for themselves and to build the windmill. The leadership cuts the rations—Squealer explains that they have simply “readjusted” them—and the animals receive no food at all unless they work on Sunday afternoons. But because they believe what the leadership tells them—that they are working for their own good now, not for Mr. Jones’s—they are eager to take on the extra labor. Boxer, in particular, commits himself to Animal Farm, doing the work of three horses but never complaining. Even though the farm possesses all of the necessary materials to build the windmill, the project presents a number of difficulties. The animals struggle over how to break the available

In the beginning of the book, the farm’s owner, Mr.Jones comes home and goes straight to bed. Knowing that they are safe to congregate, the animals meet in the barn, listening to a lecture from a pig named Old Major. He tells his comrades that he had a dream in which they were free from humans, and all animals were equal. He also taught them a song about animals becoming free