Question

What is a theme in Dwight Okita’s poem "In Response to Executive Order 9066"?

Answer 1

Okita, Dwight. “Best Friends EO9066 Response.” U.S. National Park Service – Experience Your America. U.S Department of Interior. Web. 18 May 2011.

In this essay, written by Dwight Okita, it is clear that the narrator, a young 14 year-old girl, doesn’t realize what’s happening and that her family will be deported to relocation centers for being of Japanese descent. The cause of this was the current battling during World War II between U.S.A. and Japan. Clearly, Denise, who is white and the girl’s best friend, was probably told by an adult about the American vs. Japanese matters, and mistreats the girl for this “She was sitting on the other side of the room. “You’re trying to start a war,” she said, ´giving secrets away to the Enemy. Why can’t you keep your big mouth shut?´” The author clearly addresses the themes of discrimination towards the Japanese and the innocence of a child. This last theme is also a memorable characteristic of the text, since a child narrator gives the text innocence and some ignorance, all with a child’s perspective. Both the themes and titles make it clear “In Response to Executive Order 9066: All Americans of Japanese Descent Must Report to Relocation Centers” is useful when researching the topic of discrimination