When The Emperor Was Divine: Chapter 3 Questions

1. What is the significance of this chapter’s title? ---- It’s the title of the book and this chapter is very significant. To the little boy, the emperor was like a holy, divine god.
2. Why does the boy keep thinking that he sees his father? ----He couldn’t tell really because he thought that all Japanese men looked alike; black hair, slanted eyes, High cheekbones, thick glasses, and thin lips.
3. When the boy thinks, “For it was true, they all looked alike,” [p. 49] he of seems to be echoing something he has heard elsewhere. Where might he have heard this? He might have heard this from the Americans because the Americans thought that all Japanese were alike.
4. What is the significance of the things the boy hears through the walls of his barracks? Sayonara is, of course, Japanese, but what language is Auf wiederseh’n, and what is the irony of hearing it in this setting? ----He hears Japanese-American speaking French. The irony is that in reality you don’t really hear Japanese speaking French, they usually speak Japanese
5. Why does the boy’s mother warn him never to say the Emperor’s name out loud? Why does he later say it to himself, and why does he dream about the Emperor’s ships? ---- She doesn't want him to get into trouble for espionage. He thinks that he will save them by saying it to himself. He dreams about the Emperor because he knows that the Emperor wouldn't put them in internment camps
6. In what different ways do the three characters spend their time in camp? How does this reflect their characters? ----The mother starts working a lot more and the little boy tries to do things differently and wonder about. The little girl just stays to herself and tries to stay normal. They sat on benches; played marbles and Chinese Checkers; roamed through the barracks; played cops, robbers, and war; sat in their rooms; read; wrote letters; made things; and waited.
7. What is Mrs. Kato’s predicament, and how might it symbolize the common condition of the internees? ----Mrs. Kato can’t really realize what is going on, and sometimes thinks that she’s at home, this symbolizes the awful conditions of the internees.
8. How reliable is the information the girl gives her brother? Where else have we seen her make authoritative-sounding statements that may not necessarily be accurate? This isn’t very reliable, she has also made statements like that when he asked her about what happened to the photographer taking a picture of that stampede and when she talked of her father.
9. The letters the father sends the boy have been censored by an official. What things does the boy leave out of his letters back? Why might he do this? He leaves out things about his dreams or the turtle's scrabbling claws because he thinks they will censor it.
10. What sort of things does the boy remember about his father, and what do they reveal about him? His father was a small handsome man with delicate features. He was extremely polite and he was always on time. His father was never disloyal to the US.
11. Why does the mother fear that her husband may no longer recognize her? ---She began to get wrinkles and bags under her eyes. She thought that the sun had aged her
12. When the boy asks his sister what time it is, what is the irony of her answer? Where else in the book do characters lose track of time? ----6 o’clock; her watch had read six o’clock for weeks; their mother didn’t know what the day was.
13. What happens to the inmates who sign up to harvest crops? ----At the end of the season, they came back wearing brand-new Florsheim shoes. Some said they would never go again because they were treated harshly.
14. What is the significance of the boy’s dream about doors? Where are Peleliu and Saipan? What are the claws the boy hears scrabbling, and why might their sound be growing fainter? ----He would never get to the emperor; Japan; the turtle wanting to get free but he eventually gives up.
15. What detail of the father’s arrest does the boy find most troubling? What eventually makes him feel better? ----He’d never saw his father leave the house without his hat; he saw Elizabeth’s face and it cheered him up.
16. What is the significance of the objects the boy’s mother destroyed? ----They were all items from Japan; This shows that she had to leave her past behind.
17. What does the father mean by, “It’s better to bend than to break?” [p. 78] Compare this to the mother thinking, “The nail that sticks up gets hammered down.” [p. 99] How useful or relevant does this advice seem in the context of the novel? What does it suggest about these people’s characters and values? Do they actually abide by these sayings? ----Its better to conform to these new things rather than to let it destroy you. If you caused trouble you would be labeled disloyal; No they do not abide by these sayings.
18. Why does the girl make the boy turn away while she undresses? In what other ways does her behavior change during this time? ----She thinks that she’s going through Puberty; she’s beginning to act weird.
19. Why does the boy feel responsible for the tortoise’s death? Do you think he is? His sister says, “We’ll resurrect him,” but is she just joking? Does the boy believe her? ----He was responsible for the turtle; he should have taken better care of it; he’s not really responsible; she is serious and he does believe her.
20. The boy is particularly bothered because his father didn’t look back at him from the car in which the FBI men took him away. What significance do you think he places on this? What alternative reason might the father have had for not turning? He doesn’t think that his father really cares about him anymore; he was too proud and ashamed to look back at what he was leaving.
21. How does the mother change in the course of her internment? What memory seems especially affecting to her? ----She looks very tired and sick; she is worried about the pearl earrings she lost on the train.
22. Why is the family in the next barracks sent to Tule Lake? What is the irony of punishing people imprisoned as enemy aliens for refusing to pledge allegiance to the nation that’s imprisoned them? ---- the man said that he was not willing to serve in the US armed forces on combat duty. The people that are already punished just moved around into another imprisonment.
23. What is it that the boy sees blooming inside a peach tin? How is this connected to his vision of the tortoise? Do you think this vision is real or a fantasy? ----He sees a flower in the paech tin; it would not survive under his care; real.
24. Why is one of the inmates shot? What hypotheses are given for his seemingly reckless behavior? ----He was trying to escape; others said he was just walking the dog and had been reaching out to pick a flower.
25. On page 104 the boy imagines his father returning by various means (horse, bike, train), and dressed in various outfits (a blue pinstriped suit, a red kimono). What is the significance of these different guises? What, in particular, is the meaning of the pearl? ----Each outfit portrayed something different; the pearl symbolized hope for the mother.