When te Emperor Was Divine: Chapter 1

1. Whose point of view dominates this chapter? ---Japanese-American Women
2.What does the woman see in the window? Otsuka tells us that “she wrote down a few words.” [p. 3] What do they turn out to be? ----A sign in the window; They were items that she would take to the internment camp
3. How much time passes between the appearance of the notice and the events of the rest of the chapter? What do we learn has happened during that time? -----9 days; we have learned that Otsuka is going to an internment camp.
4. What items does the woman buy at the hardware store? What does she intend to do with them? Why might Mr. Lundy keep insisting that she can pay him later, and why is she in turn so determined to pay him now? ----a ball of twine and tape to finish packing; Mr. Lundy knows that something will happen to her; She’s determined to pay him then, because she know that she will not be returning.
5. Which of the family possessions do the woman and her children pack; which things do they leave behind? What do their choices tell you about them? Discuss the significance of the bonsai tree, the reproduction of “The Gleaners,” and the portrait of Princess Elizabeth. ----They pack all of the things on the list, linen, forks, spoons, plates, bowls, cups, towels, and clothes; they don’t find their most prized possessions important; the bonsai tree signifies survival. It would still survive with or without them; the reproduction of the Gleaners represent the things that had to be left behind; the portrait of Princess Elizabeth represents how much she didn’t want to let go.
6.Otsuka describes the woman as someone “who did not always follow the rules.” Where in this novel do we see her doing this? ---- she killed her dog and this was not right.
7.Why does the woman kill White Dog? How does she explain its disappearance to the children? Do they believe her? Where else do we see her lying? ----They can’t take it with them because no pets were allowed; she tells the children that White Dog is going Deaf; They believe her.
8. Why is the boy so insistent on keeping his hat on? ----It was a gift for his dad.
9. The girl worries about her looks, noting that “people were staring.” [p. 15] what might be the real reason they were staring at her? ---She’s a pretty Japanese girl.
10. Why does the girl ask her mother to make her practice for her piano lesson, and why, when her mother refuses, does she practice anyway? ----She wants to have her mother’s permission because she wants to play the song that her father played for her; she does it anyway.
11. At what point in the evening’s routines does the woman begin to cry? What is the significance of “La donna é mobile,” a song whose title means “Woman Is Fickle”? While she’s drinking her whine; the woman was indeed fickle.
12. Discuss the significance of the chapter’s final sentence: “Then they would pin their identification numbers to their collars and grab their suitcases and climb up onto the bus and go to wherever it was they had to go.” [p. 22] Why is the author vague about their destination---This meant that the Japanese-Americans were told where to go; therefore they had to be there. If they were caught out of place they would be arrested; The author implies that people didn’t know exactly where they were going but they had to go there anyway.