History_Book_Review

Book Review NO-NO BOY, a novel by John Okada, tells the story of a young Japanese American, Ichiro. The story takes place after the Japanese attack on America. The aftermaths of the attack are seen in the story of Ichiro and his family. After the attack Ichiro is faced with choosing which side he wants to fight for; the country he was born in, The United States, or the country of his heritage, Japan. He refuses to join the US Army and doesn’t pledge his allegiance to the United States. This gives him the nick - name of NO-NO boy. He is then put into an internment camp for two years and is sentenced to prison for two years because of his refusal to join the US Army. He returns home to his father, mother, and brother with an uncertainty of his own identity. This book allows the reader to see three points of view, the Japanese that fought for America, the one that doesn’t identify with either side, and the Japanese that identified with their Japanese heritage. According to the book, after the Pearl Harbor attack, the Japanese in America were forced into internment camps, enlist in the army, or put into jail. Ichiro made the decision to not enlist into the army, a decision that he would later on regret. He was a Japanese born on American soil, so he did not know which side to identify with and fight for. His parents can identify with their Japanese roots while he doesn’t know which side to choose. When Ichiro comes back from prison, he is faced with the Japanese that decided to fight for America and spit in his face, a little brother that despises him for not taking America’s side and a mother who believes that Japan won the war. Ichiro’s friend Kenji fought in the war on America’s side. Although Kenji was able to choose a side to fight for, he was still hit with his own dilemas about the war. The government gave Kenji a new car, money for his education, and pension benefits for the leg he lost in the war. Kenji was not faced with problems with his identity yet he was still dealing with problems about his own life because of the war. Kenji ends up passing away because of his gangrened leg in the novel. Other soldiers that fought the war came home to say that they were treated badly in the army. Ichiro’s little brother Taro, is also an avid supporter of the United States. He decides to defer going to college and enlist into the U.S. Army. On the other hand there is Ichiro, who decided to not enlist in the army and choose to go to prison instead. Although, he was not left with war wounds and did not experience the same treatments as soldiers did in the army, Ichiro was still faced with problems stemming from the war. He was unable to decide which side he could identify with. This sent him into an emotional turmoil. He resented his mother who choose to side with the Japanese, and his little brother Taro, despised him because he could not choose a side to identify with. After being released from prison he has some much resentment and confusion because of the War. Lastly, the novel had characters that identified with Japan and felt that the Japanese had won the war. Ichiro’s mother and her friend Mrs. Ashida both believe that Japan won the war and that a ship will be coming to pick them up any day now. Ichiro’s mothers’ distorted thinking is put to an end when his father receives a letter in the mail from her sister stating that she needed help with food and money. Upon hearing this, Mrs. Yamada commits suicide because she now understands that the U.S has won the war. Overall, I think this novel is an excellent depiction of the aftermaths of WWII. There was focus on the Japanese that enlisted and fought for the country and those like Ichiro who did not fight for America. There was also many Japanese in the novel that identified with Japan, and felt that they won the war. It provides the reader with different points of view of Japanese – Americans living in America after the war, and the influence that it had over the lives of these people. Families were ruined and lives were forever changed because of this War.