2-1-Q sep 30
Greta Jennison
6 October 2025
2 Comments:
- Page 136 has a very interesting artistic design that helps explain what is going on in the story. In a moment of tension, two men from the camp face off, one asking “what did you call me?”. The art in this panel stood out to me because there is a dark shaded background and lots of harsh line patterns overlaying on the people in the panel, creating a feeling of tension and emotion.
- On page 114, everyone in the camp is forced to take a “loyalty questionnaire” to prove their loyalty to the country. There were questions that accused these American born people of siding with the Japanese empire. I thought it was super interesting that on the next page there is a sort of comparison/list explaining his parents backgrounds and identities, it was super helpful to have a refresh on the history of his parents and was also helpful to moving the plot along.
1 Extension:
People who answered no to any question on the questionnaire were immediately seen as disloyal and were sent to the Tule Lake internment camp in northern California. Tule lake was the largest camp and was in operation from 1942-1946. At its max capacity it held around 18,000 wrongfully incarcerated people, almost half being children (as Takei mentions). The camp had a high school, hospital, factories, a cemetery, and more. This camp was also heavily guarded with machine guns and surrounded by 3x the amount of barbed wire as other camps. Tule lake was also widely known for its segregation center with its own jail.
1 Question:
Were there any parents who answered no to the questions, but their adult son answered yes and was drafted? If so, what kind of effect did that have on their parents who were whisked away to the “disloyalty” camps?
