Japanese Americans in “Farewell to Manzanar” Free Essay Example

Fear was heavily used in the past through the Salem Witch Trials, The Red Scare, along with how the Japanese-Americans were treated, causing chaos to everyone involved. These events are all similar to each other, fear being a heavy aspect of it all in multiple different ways. The Salem Witch Trials and the Red Scare dealt with accusing others while the Japanese-Americans were sent to internment camps, feared by the other Americans. All of these events, in different ways, ruined thousands of lives all because of fear.

The events that the Houston and Takei families witnessed have both similarities and differences.

In “Farewell to Manzanar”, the author writes, “But [Papa] had to speak his mind before the ‘no no’ contingent carried the block” (J.K Houston and J. Houston 29). Both families had problems with the Loyalty Oath to swear allegiance to either America or Japan; Papa here tries to speak his mind yet later ends up being attacked by the other Japanese Americans at their camp.

The Loyalty Oath caused fear throughout all of the camps, questioning who they should side with. Similarly, in George Takei’s interview, he says that “after they’ve taken our property, our homes, our businesses, our freedom, and incarcerated us for a year, they wanted to test our loyalty” (Takei). Both of these families struggled with the oath. While Papa answered differently than Takei’s parents, they both still knew the consequences each side had depending on their answer. George Takei’s experience in having everything be taken away from him caused fear in his family, having to make a big decision soon after.

While these two families both had similarities and differences, they went through trials in the internment camps that made them lose their freedom for years, causing fear to spread in their families.

The Crucible shows the fear that was held during the Salem Witch trials. In the first act, Reverend Parris says, “There is either obedience or the church will burn like h*** is burning” (Miller, 273). This biblical allusion states that if one doesn’t believe, then they won’t go to Heaven. Parris says this due to the uproar in the inflicted girls accusing multiple people of witchcraft. Earlier in the same act, Putnam angrily says that there is clearly a witch among them. (Miller, 108). The rumors of there being a witch kept being spread around town. This caused fear, tying into the biblical allusion from earlier. Those who don’t believe soon ended up being accused of witchcraft — this caused an uproar in the village. There simply being rumors of a witch causes the town to fear those around them, striking their faith.

As the Japanese-Americans were driven away into the internment camps, fear was clearly seen inside the camps themselves. Contention is seen between the people in “Farewell to Manzanar” as most people call Papa, who answers ‘yes yes’, an ‘inu’ (J.K Houston and J. Houston 29). Multiple times in the story, Papa is called ‘dog’, but more related to its second meaning ‘collaborator’. Many thought that Papa may have been working with the enemy due to his choices and actions. Even when they were discussing their answers to the oath, Papa “had [a man] by the throat and would have strangled him” (J.K Houston and J. Houston 34). In these camps, many argue with each other. This includes Papa when he was trying to defend the ‘yes yes’ position. Fear can go so far as to what Papa did, strangling another man. Fear can cause harm within those who are involved in the situation themselves.

Fear is heavily seen in Crucible related to the Red Scare. In the first act of “The Crucible”, Putnam says, “This woman must be hanged! She must be taken and hanged” (Miller, 432). Here in the Crucible, it can be seen here that many are taken in and accused. This can be seen relating to the fear that rose during this time, many lives being ruined. The Crucible heavily relates to McCarthyism — or the Red Scare — as those who are accused may only live if they accuse others, asking specifically for names (Miller, 472). During the Red Scare, similar events happened, as those who were accused of being communist had to give names of others if they weren’t truly communist. While there was no hanging during the Red Scare, both events caused harm and fear, thousands of people being accused, lives taken away or ruined.

While fear was clearly seen in these events, the opposite side says that fear brought out the best of them. In “Farewell to Manzanar”, Woody says “I will fight well, Papa… I am an American Citizen” (J.K Houston and J. Houston 14-16). It is possible that through all of this fear, Woody wanted to fight to help reduce fear. Through all of the confusion in the camp, he stood up for what he believed in, answering ‘Yes Yes’ to the oath. An event similar to Papa is in the Japanese National Anthem towards the end, translating to “May Thy peaceful reign last long. May it last for thousands of years, Until this tiney stone will grow Into a massive rock, and the moss will cover it deep and thick” (J.K Houston and J. Houston 39). This song has many themes, one important one being that it represents endurance. Fear can bring out one’s endurance that the Japanese want to stand up for what they believe in and will not back down. Fear can bring out the best of oneself through their actions and endurance.

While fear can bring out the best, fear is still a huge factor in many lives and situations. Papa is at his emotional state when he is singing songs in his home and crying (J.K Houston and J. Houston 38). From his fear of wanting to stay safe and not wanting to be wrong, he still has a sensitive side that hits him hard with fear. Papa is afraid of being alone in his answer, that no one will see his side for their safety. Similarly in “The Crucible”, Elizabeth Proctor attempts to confess to John’s crime of being in an affair by “faintly” saying “No, sir” (Miller, 418). Under the pressure of the two possibly being accused of witchcraft, Elizabeth wanted to protect herself and her husband from death and separation. She gave into fear and lied to the court about John’s past affair. Fear can get to the best of people and test them in multiple situations.

Fear was heavily used in the past, and in many ways, is still used today to cause chaos in people. “Farewell to Manzanar” shows various events that took place when Japanese Americans were in fear of those being kept in horrible living situations. In George Takei’s interview, he also talks about how his parents went through the camps, fear shown throughout his family as they try to live a normal life. The Crucible also has fear throughout the whole town of Salem, as the possibility of witches brings great calamity and panic. The Red Scare also had a big time of great fear and distress, as while the threat of communism was real, Americans grew panicked and went deeper into the case than they should have. Leave your reader with a final thought about fear and betrayal causing harm. Explain why it matters. Fear and betrayal can cause harm as it can hurt others. All of these texts show fear causing harm towards others, causing thousands of people to be hurt just from being afraid of something.