Letters

Our group had the letters containing Amy's experiences in the camp as well as how they were traveling and how the conditions of the camp were not to her liking. These poem really reminded me about a part in Takaki where it says "all persons, whether aliens or citizens...deemed dangerous as potential saboteurs"(Takaki pg 390), and relating this to the letters we read, Amy and her family were relocated even though they were citizens and the experience of the camp weren't far off from those that Takaki is explaining in the novel. Another group brought up letters talking about how Amy was mad at Tomio because he was going to say "No, No" during the questionnaire. This brought me back to the story in Bold Words, "No No boy". It just was amazing to me how Tomio's life could have been so much different if he were a "No No boy". You could tell Tomio was very smart and wanted to exceed in life because Amy kept referring to how hard he was working.

These letters were very interesting because it painted a picture of the situations they were enduring as well as the difficulties they were facing. From Amy talking about the condition of the barrack, it almost seemed as if they were treated as animals. Hot summers with very cold winters with very little. This reminds me of the way the Japanese were treated in Takaki being called "Japs" and "yellow skins" they weren't treated with any respect and this was seen in the way Amy described her living situation wherever they were relocated to.