When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka Book Analysis Example

President Biden, and Vice President Kamilia Harris, show a blending of cultures.  Joe Biden is a traditional white man, while Kamala Harris is a young person of a color. Similarly, in When the Emperor was Divine, Julie Otsuka shows a cultural blending with the mother and the boy between American and Japanese traditions. This book is set in the 1940s, at the start of World War II. A Japanese family must decide whether to adopt the customary expectations of an American identity, or to maintain their traditional Japanese customs. In When the Emperor was Divine, Otsuka’s boy and woman embraced their American aspects through religion and entertainment, and kept the cultural and religious values of their Japanese identity, implying that adapting to American society necessitates giving up a bit of one's background. 

Throughout the book, the woman and the boy embrace religion and entertainment of their American identity. Though the mother was of Japanese descent, she began to adapt and convert to America's religion of Christianity. While in the internment camp, the boy could hear his mother saying a Christian prayer every night. The boy says, “LATE AT NIGHT, in the darkness, he could hear his mother praying. ‘Our father, Who art in heaven . . .’ “(82). Often in the 1940s, when this book took place, many Japanese followed Shintoism, not Christianity. However, with the mother living with Americans all around her, she started assimilating to America’s main religion. She began praying privately at night, her Christian prayers show her converting to her adopted country’s beliefs. Similar to the mother, the boy adopts American culture as well through showing an interest in American entertainment. When the boy was having trouble sleeping in the internment camp, he thought about his old room as a way of comfort. The boy “could still picture his old room very clearly; the One War One World map of the world on the wall, the Joe Palooka comic books spilling out from under the bed, the cowboy-and-Indian last, gently billowing in the breeze” (68). The boy decorated his room with an Americanized theme, between the cowboy and comic books, suggesting that the boy is trying to emulate American culture. With the Japanese boy living in an American world where stereotypes and assumptions are easily made, he is adapting new cultures and trying to blend it. In this book, there are multiple examples being shown of both the mother and the boy including Americans beliefs in their everyday lives. However, throughout the book they slowly become the enemy and are sent off to an internment camp. Despite being in the internment camp, the boy and the mother still choose to embrace the American aspects of their life. Although their adopted country mistreats them, they still view themselves as American.

Despite the mother and the boy embracing the American ethics of their life, they still keep their Japanese cultural and religious values as well.  The mother projects to her daughter, the girl, to not be ashamed, but rather confident with her Japanese features. An incident happened where the girl caught people staring at her and became worrisome. When the girl asks her mother, “‘Is there anything wrong with my face?’” (15), the woman responds, “‘Why?’ said the woman” (15). The girl mentions that there were “‘People were staring’” (15), the woman responds back to the girl saying, “‘You have the most beautiful face I have ever seen’” (15). Japanese people are demonized, so the girl internalizes that there is something wrong with her and assumes it must be about her physical appearance. However, when the mom hears this, She reminds the girl of her extraordinary features and reassures her of her beauty.  Furthermore, the boy embraces his Japanese descent through religion. At the internment camp, “Whenever the boy walked past the shadow of a guard tower he pulled his cap down low over his head and tried not to say the word. But sometimes it slipped out anyway, Hirohito, Hirohito, Hirohito. He said it quietly. Quickly. He whispered it” (52). At night at the internment camp, the boy would repeat the name of the Emperor under his breath at the camp, proving to himself that he will not abandon his heritage. The boy is willing to risk his safety to assert his beliefs. Living in a country where they are not accepted and perceived as dangerous can be challenging. However, between religion and cultural beliefs, the mom and the boy demonstrate a showing of keeping their Japanese descent. These keep these two characters grounded and remind them of their heritage, even in the worst of times.

Throughout living in a foreign country, the mother and the boy began to adapt new beliefs.  By the woman and the boy embracing religion, cultural and entertainment aspects of their life, Otsuka explores the way people start to develop new identities, even through difficult circumstances. With the boy and the woman embracing two different identities, this can be difficult to choose between tradition and new. Both the mother and the boy showed that they are able to keep part of their own heritage while adapting a new identity as well. Even through such a difficult period of time, while their adopted country mistreats them, they still view themselves as American, no matter their mothering country.