Define Freedom

Once the mother and the two children return to their home after three years of living in the concentration camps, they seem to have a new outlook on life itself. Not only do they appreciate things that they once took for granite, they also see the world in a new light and have a new definition of what their freedom is versus what the rest of America's freedom is (those who aren't Japanese). Each person matures in a sense by realizing that the world is truly corrupt for so many different reasons, and people just tend to put serious events and realities on the back burner so that they can avoid confrontation of any sort.

After the family's arrival back home, the mother and children are basically worshiping the water coming out of the faucet, yelling insanities that they once couldn't yell out in the concentration camps and they feasted on food that they never thought was "feastable". "We lowered our heads to the faucet and drank.. Our throats were dry from the long ride back and our clothes were covered with dust. Our mother let the water run over her hands and then she turned off the faucet and wiped her hands on the front of her dress.." The mere fact that water was so exciting shows how deprived they were at the camps. They weren't taken care of and were on constant watch of every little move. It became their life and what they were used to.

Although the family was excited to be home and do what they hadn't done in years, they were also doing what they had accommodated to at the camps; such as sleeping in the same room. Even though the children would ask their mother when they would be able to sleep in their own rooms, the schedule they ran on at the camps seemed to stick with them and make them feel comfortable. "Without thinking, we had chosen to sleep, together, in a room, with our mother, dreaming of the day when we could finally sleep alone, in our own rooms.” I also believe they slept together in fear that someone could harm them at any moment, seeing as they were the "enemy" during the war. After the experience at the concentration camps, they realized that they weren't really safe anywhere. They couldn’t' even trust their neighbors who had stolen things from the house. They were free from the camp, but in this case, they weren't free of the harsh realities of the world outside the camp.... so I ask... define freedom.

Secrets

To elaborate a little more on what we had discussed in class on Friday, I'd like to add to the list of lies and secrets that are kept through out this book. The lies told in this novel are very unique because they aren't really lies. They are just well kept secrets. Some "not quite" lies include mother lying to her children that she really does have everything together, when in actuality, she cries her self to sleep at night over the worry of the safety and well being of her and her family. Others are closer to white lies such as the mother telling the children that the dog just wasn't coming with them, rather than her telling them that she had killed him. Not only does the mother lie, but so does the daughter and father. The daughter lies to her little brother about how many horses will run by the train, when in actuality, she doesn't know if there will even be any horses. The father lies through his letters home stating that everything is "O.K."...in jail?

The father writes to the daughter stating all the wonderful things he will buy for her birthday. However, at the end of the note she notices that it has been censored. "At the bottom of the card there was a P.S. and then a line of text that had been blacked out by the censors. She wondered what it was her father had wanted to tell her." Obviously, not everything is "O.K" in jail if letters that her father writes are read through before they're sent. The daughter learns quickly how corrupt the world around her is becoming and soon catches on that she too, in order to stay sane has to lie a little.


As a reader, I can't help to wonder why these characters feel the need to lie to one another. I took the time to analyze each character and why they might lie to them selves and one another. The mother for one, is protecting her children from the harsh realities of the war. The sister, learning from her mother and father tries to protect her brother from the same realities; she probably feels that she grew up too fast and she wants him to keep his innocence. The father lies for different reasons because his situation in jail is a little more skewed than the others situation at home. Everything he does is monitored and looked after. The smallest hickup of a "bad time" there could ruin the chances of him or even his families survival. We all lie a little from time to time, but I can't help to wonder if their lies are getting the best of them.

Compare and Contrast

This book was such a turnaround from reading the book Push. I've decided to take it upon myself to compare the writing styles of these two authors to get a better understanding of the characters themselves. The novel "Push" was an inspiring piece that brings the reader into Precious's (main character) head. Whereas the novel "When the Emperor was Devine", was narrated in second person. You never truly quite got to get into the characters head. However I believe both Sapphire (writer of "Push") and Julia Otsuka (writer of "When the Emperor was Devine", actually meant for their writing styles to create a sense of "mood" for the reader to better understand the situations going on within the story.

                                                                             
In "Push", the language was very real and in your face. Precious swears, speaks broken English and feels free to speak her mind where ever, whenever, with whom ever. However, it is much different for the mother in the first chapter of "When the Emperor was Devine" to even show her emotion, let alone embrace it as Precious does. The author creates a monotone language that it's very hard to get used to at first. Some very emotional things happen in the first chapter that would usually deserve an emotional reaction, but because emotions are rarely portrayed in the beginning of this book, it's hard to tell whether or not to feel bad, happy, or just plain awkward.  On page 11, Otsuka presents the murder of the dog as just another task in the mother’s day. "White Dog's body shuddered twice and his hind legs kicked out into the air, as though he were trying to run. Then he grew still. A trickle of blood seeped out from the corner of his mouth. She untied him from the tree and let out a deep breath. The shovel had been the right choice. Better, she thought, than a hammer." This was done or... described in such a manner that could have been her cleaning the lawn.

Although the mother seemed un phased by her actions, we later find out that she breaks down in bed after having a few glasses of wine. This woman has gone through so many traumatic events during this war that she has become a zombie by day and a human by night. She must stay strong for her children in order to survive. Survival is something that Sapphire tries to portray in her book as well, just through different language. In conclusion, although each author had a different way of conveying the characters story, both novels had the same message; to stay strong.

Better Days

In the beginning of this book, precious has very low self-esteem and self-concept. This can be blamed on a few reasons; her mother’s physical and mental abuse, her father’s sexual abuse (rape), and the lack of care that outsiders such as her teachers, neighbors and even family give her. She is stranded without a paddle up until she meets Ms. Rain who helps her self-esteem and self-concept grow tremendously. She teaches her that she can do anything if she believes in herself and that the truth will free her. Precious had been living in denial for most of her life, and now that she has this loving and warm atmosphere in Ms. Rain's class, she finally realizes how precious she really is.

I thought it was very interesting for her to describe herself as a "vampire" or "invisible". There are many times when she is on her way to do something productive and she gets distracted by her disturbing past. "For me this muffin' new. There has always been something wrong wif the tesess. These tesses paint a picture of me wif no brain. The tesses paint a picture of me an' my muver- my whole family, we more than dumb, we invisible.....They vampires. They eats, drinks, wear clothes, talks, fucks, and stuff but when you git right down to it they don't exist." She is not only describing herself as worthless, but her whole family as worthless because all they do is hurt her in some way; never have they been a positive support system that she obviously needed.

Precious stated that all she did during her school years was just "get by" and sit in the back of the classroom. It was evident that once she attended Ms. Rain’s class that she didn't even know how to read. This class even gives her faith in her unborn child. It was heartwarming to find that this time around she really did want to care for her child and make sure it had a better life than her. "Important to read to baby after it's born. Important to have colors hanging from them wall. Listen baby, I puts my hand on my stomach, breathe deep. Listen baby (I writes in my notebook): She is talking to her baby and making a connection with him which she probably would have never done before this new accepting experience in Ms. Rains classroom

It's obvious that Precious has gone through hell and back, but up to this point in the book, it seems as though she is willing to turn it all around for the sake of her and her children. She wants to raise them better than she was raised as a child. She wants to push.

"He was there to catch me when I leapt"

Throughout this novel, Alison really vocalizes how much she dislikes her father in various ways, but I can't help to wonder if everything she was saying was just to cover up how much she really did care about him. Was this book based on an over exaggerated opinion? Yes, he made Alison and her siblings work hard around the house and had little time for fun and games, but no parent is perfect, and in my view, he was a great father. He built strong work ethic for his children and yes, he was stern but sometimes it's needed for a home to be run accordingly.

Alison’s father may have been controlling, but it was only because he cared for her. He wanted for her what he felt like he never had. On pages 22 and 23, Bechdel conveys a sense of kindness in her father. The pictures show him giving her a bath and letting her take the wheel of the lawn mower and she then states, "Although I'm good at enumerating my father’s flaws, it's hard for me to sustain much anger at him. I expect this partly because he's dead, and partly because the bar is lower for fathers than for mothers." There are those fathers that aren't even there for their daughters. I could see why one would be hostile towards someone who was never there for them, but the mere fact that her father put great effort for her shows that he isn't so bad after all.

I also caught on as I read through this book, that her mother is rarely mentioned or around. It seems to me that her father played a big part in her life which is maybe why she blames a lot of things on him. While talking to a friend at college, she laughs at the fact that her father is dead. “Dad left no note. After the funeral, life pretty much resumed its course. They say grief takes many forms, including the absence of grief."  I personally believe that her laugh is nervousness and hides the fact that she really did love her father. Some people react the complete opposite way they're "supposed" to act when something tragic happens. However, I know Alison loved and trusted her father than she ever portrayed it through the whole book according to one little line on the very last page that read, "But in the tricky reverse narration that impels our entwined stories, he was there to catch me when I leapt."

Like father like daughter

As much as Alison despises her father, I can't help but to realize how similar she is to him. She seems to discover more and more about her father’s secrets in chapter three. Her mother reveals to her events that had taken place even before she was born, which helps her as well as the reader to better understand why her father is the way he is.
Once Alison wrote a letter home four months prior to her father’s death about "coming out", her mother admitted that her father too was homosexual or, bisexual and that he had had affairs with men while they were married. This came as a surprise to Alison, but also helped her to put the pieces together. Her and her father both communicated via letters because it was much easier than showing emotion in person; another similarity they have. Throughout the book, he had always been infatuated with certain books that had homosexuality hidden in the pages (or how he perceived these books). Such as The Great Gatsby he always talked so dearly about the male author. Like her father, Alison took pleasure in reading books about homosexuality. In college she was in the library almost every day understanding more and more that homosexuality wasn't just about physicality, but about the mentality. "My realization at nineteen that I was a lesbian came about in a manner consistent with my bookish upbringing. A revelation not of the flesh, but of the mind."
These thoughts lead her to believe that her father was never really physically interested in her mother, but just the idea of having a "normal" life. Even so, their lives never really turned out the way they had imagined. "I speculate on what attracted my father more--the role, the actress, or my mother herself." Although Alison refuses to believe that she is anything like her heartless father, she is subliminally playing out her father’s life.