George Takai’s graphic novel was a page turning read about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War Two. I feel that presenting history through a graphic novel is an effective and meaningful way to have the facts of the past sink in with the reader. I would like to see more historical events being told through graphic novels.
I think the main message Takai was trying to get through, with his story, was the importance in protesting injustice in any way a person can. Like with his father, sometimes protesting comes in the ways of organizing, volunteering, and staying true to one’s own convictions. As Takai illustrated on page 123, staying true to one’s convictions can often times be one of the most effective ways to protest against injustice. Contrariwise to this point, Takai also illustrated on page 134 how some of the interned Japanese chose to protest, which was acting out of anger and against their normal sets of convictions. However, Takai seems to suggest that there is no right or wrong in these peoples forms of protest. I believe he sums it up best on page 203, when he speaks about justice being the American ideology, and that “History can’t be a sword to justify injustice or a shield against progress…”
Overall, I believe Taki’s graphic novel was an effective and profound way to tell the story of the interned Japanese. It is a story in history that we can all learn from and should continue to discuss and remember. I do not necessarily agree with Takai, though, on page 197. He seems to hint that the 2018 president (Trump) is responsible for “interning” Illegal immigrants. Unless I am wrong ( and I often am), the act of detaining in cages, ICE detained illegal immigrants, was a policy started by the Clinton administration. I also know that the two other presidents after Clinton kept this policy in place. I also know that the current president signed an executive order stopping the separation of children and their parents (although you will be hard pressed to find that information on 88% of the covered news media’s). I guess, I am just upset that Takai used this very real and very sad story, to push a political agenda that is historically and wildly biased and inaccurate. Why not show (on page 197), a picture of the same caged immigrants (who were not citizens like the 1940’s Japanese, so it is wildly uncorrelatable) during the years 1997-2016? He could have picked any of those years because the same thing was being done. It was on this page that I realized his novel may have been less about telling a story that we can all learn from and more about serving as a current political rhetoric machine.
I apologize for the rant, I am not what you would consider a supporter of this or any president, really. I am not associated with any political party either. I just hate to see when people try and push an agenda, and use something that was very real and very unfortunate to give their narratives weight. 90% of Takai’s novel was fun to read and I really gained a deep perspective and grouping of insights from his work. The last 10%, when he tried to drive home his conclusion, was very political and I could see right through it.
