When the Emperor was Divine by Juliet Otsuka - Book Report/Review Example

Instruction: Task: Endurance in times of Crisis. Primary work (novel When the Emperor was Divine. Issue/Question: How comes that the entire members of the Japanese-American family make it through all the difficult times they pass through and come out quite strong? Answer: The human nature is most likely structured in such a manner that an individual can adapt to the hardest of situations when they don’t have any other choice. Secondary Work: The Plague. In Juliet Otsuka’s novel When the Emperor was Divine, the entire Japanese-American family is forced to undergo a variety of stressful and emotionally exhausting relocations and incarcerations. All this is based on the stereotyping that all individuals bearing the ‘enemy alien’ tag have to be rounded up for matters of national security. This is basically individuals who are not purely of American origin. Consequently, the fact that they make it through all the troubles could highlight the inherent ability of an individual to make it through any situation should they have no other choice. In other words, a difficult situation brings up the adaptive nature in humans such that they are able to adjust to whichever difficult condition. In retrospect, Dr. Bernard Rieux would connect well with the family and assist in their struggle given that it connects quite well with the situation he finds himself in in Albert Camus’ novel The Plague. It is not necessarily easy to go through what the family in When the Emperor was Divine goes through. Essentially, such an experience is bound to break down individuals, particularly if you consider the ages of the boy and girl. When you factor in the prior incarceration of their father, then their endurance level becomes significantly amazing. In the same way that Bernard Rieux struggles through the effects of a plague while still separated from his wife (Camus 99). Therefore, the overall inference that can be drawn from these forms of endurance is that through suffering, any human is bound to attain extreme levels of endurance. For a start, each of the family members in When the Emperor was Divine has to go through some form of struggle. The fact that they do not necessarily go through their struggles together expounds the enormity of their suffering. This is because going through a tough time is much easier when you are with your loved ones around than when you are all alone. Throughout the suffering, we can see how the mother adapts to every situation and brings out the spirit of perseverance and tolerance to even the hardest of situations. The author gives the impression that as much as women are regarded as the fairer sex, they can always stand up to the most difficult situations should the need arise. In fact, the mother in When the Emperor was Divine goes through more emotional suffering than any other character since she was left with the kids and has to get accustomed to seeing her children struggle while their father is away in an internment camp. The mother’s struggles resonate well with Dr. Bernard Rieux’s struggles in The Plague. Though the two texts are based on entirely different topics, Dr. Rieux also has to endure changing times and adjust accordingly. The theme of suffering brings about endurance in both instances as the mother has to take up an entirely new role and oversee the proper survival of the children. The struggles are accentuated by the fact that their societies are increasingly limiting their movements. This means they have to make do with the little freedom that they have, thereby aggravating their woes. Nonetheless, one thing that can be inferred from all this is that the level of freedom depends on how an individual structures their mind to believe it to be. While both characters in both stories were used to some form of freedom, it is suddenly cut and limited successively as deemed necessary by the corresponding authorities. Nonetheless, both the mother and Dr. Rieux adjust to the decreasing levels of freedom such that they still make it count. Juliet Otsuka also uses characters of varying age to highlight the way that suffering is an element that nurtures endurance among individuals. Through the eyes of the eleven year old daughter and her brother, we are presented with the impacts of the struggle from a new perspective. Though they are different character-wise, their behavior is adaptive of the sufferings and situations that they have been through. The daughter is quite dramatic and curious as she wants to know everything that is going on around her (Otsuka 39). The author characterizes her as the type of person who feels that they need to know whatever is going on, despite the fact that it is too much for their age. Nonetheless, she tries to handle every situation well for her age, highlighting her inherent ability to adjust to the suffering and endure the pain and misery they undergo. On the other hand, Otsuka presents the boy as greatly introverted in that he is largely pre-occupied with his own thoughts. For the most part, he is also characterized as being sad and lonely (Otsuka 51). Indeed, the entire experience is affecting him badly, and he can only connect with the closest family members. From the way the author presents him, we can deduce that he is the most affected by the entire experience. He seems to have a lot of questions but without any proper explanation regarding the current events. Consequently, his endurance level is the least as it is exceedingly easy to note that he has been affected so much by the turn of events. The character that Otsuka presents him with, against the feelings that he gets from the entire experience mean that eventually he comes out as an individual who can barely relate with anyone except those whom he went through the same struggle with. This is essentially his family members and others of the Japanese American race. Suffering under certain conditions only calls for the highest level of endurance. Without having the ability to adapt and endure instances of suffering, most people would break under the pressure, thereby limiting their life experiences. Both Otsuka and Camus highlight the value of endurance in instances of suffering. It can be noted that the instances of suffering are sudden and do not give the characters any notice beforehand. While the Japanese-American family had this feeling that all was not well, the transfer to internment camps came as a sudden occurrence, making their reactionary measures even more difficult. The difficulty with which they were hit by the sudden internment sticks with them up to the very end when they really cannot get back their life as it was prior to the suffering. This demonstrates the after-effects of too much suffering and endurance. However, their case is different since the society maintained the alienation that the regime had subjected them to, thereby making it much more difficult for them to re-adjust. The Plague also presents a sudden onset of suffering that is made worse by an authoritative decision to curtail movement and communication. This move prevents family members staying inside and outside of the town from communicating with each other, making them depressed and isolated. Nonetheless, there is basically nothing that they can do other than endure this new state of living. Hence, without embracing endurance, the characters are either susceptible to the plague ravaging the town or health-threatening levels of depression. However, the author highlights that it gets easier for the townspeople over time, illustrating the relationship between suffering and endurance levels as time goes by. In light of all this, the foregoing analysis of the mother and children in When the Emperor was Divine and the major theme of suffering in The Plague expound on the issue of how increased suffering necessitates a corresponding increased endurance abilities among individuals. Works Cited. Otsuka, Juliet. When The Emperor was Divine. London, LDN: Penguin Books Limited, 2012. Print. Camus, Albert. The Plague. New York, NY: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2012. Print. Read More