Letters

Amy was a Japanese American who was born in the United States. During World War 2 she was taken to an internment camp by the US government, but she was able to write letters to her friend Violet so that they would know what was going on in their lives. The letters that I read started after the Japanese military attacked Pearl Harbor. Before being taken by the US government, Amy had to pack up her personal belongings and helped her family destroy their garden. This same kind of despair is described by Yamada in his poem "Thirty Years Under". In the poem the narrator packs up her "wounds in a cast iron box" (Bold Words 80).

Amy talked about the terrible staff that worked at the Assembly Center where she was detained, stating that they were unqualified but had gotten the job only because of politics. Amy mentioned having wanted to travel in life, but she had never planned on traveling in such a fashion. Her way of putting a light spin on everything she wrote about is similar to what Takaki described. "Provided relief in a world of military-like routine" (Takaki 139).

Amy wrote that the Assembly Center she was kept at was half ready and the staff were inconsiderate and unorganized. She also stayed in dangerous living conditions because her mother threatened to kill her baby at one point. Amy also wrote about the hard work that they were forced to do, such as digging trenches, but she also continued studying to be a nurse while she was detained. Amy wrote to Violet and said that she planned to apply to nursing school when she was released and asked about Violet's father and his struggle with a tumor.

As I read these letters, I was shocked at how much Amy was able to put a light side on many of the things that were happening to her. She wrote the letters as if the entire situation was part of normal life and she didn't make a big deal about it. Amy kept Violet up-to-date with events that were going on such as changes in her parent's and siblings lives and day-to-day things that stood out to her.