Udeema Shakya

What does it mean to be American?

No-No Boy questions what it truly means to be American and examines how that plays out

in a racial group that is being heavily ostracized. The story deals with the aftermath of Japanese

internment during World War II and follows a man named Ichiro. Ichiro has spent the last two

years in jail for being a no-no boy, someone who refused to join the war. Many Japanese-American

men, unlike Ichiro, voluntarily signed up for the war in an attempt to be accepted by society again

and recognized as an American. As a result of this desire to be recognized as American, Japanese

Americans discriminated against no-no boys and other minorities that American society deemed to

be less than.

The constitutional right to be recognized as American was treated as a privilege that

Japanese-Americans were denied when they were sent to internment camps. They were treated as

if they were criminals, the scum of society, based off of nothing except their race. This presented a

dilemma to the second generation of Japanese-Americans. Who were they if they were stripped of a

large part of their identity? Who were they if the country that nurtured them rejected them? Ichiro

decided that he was Japanese and refused the draft; however, the majority of them volunteered to

join the war to prove to society that they were American. It was akin to a lost child calling out to

their mother. This desire and obsession to regain the right to be recognized as Americans continued

on even after the war. This is evident in the way that the elder generation clashes with the younger

ones about where their roots come from. This is also evident in the way that Ichiro despairingly

thinks that he is worse off than his friend Kenji. Kenji fought in the war however his leg had to be

amputated and he still has to undergo several more surgeries. At least, Kenji, a man who is going to

die, is accepted by America. At least his country overlooks his race and deems him American. The
loss of identity of an entire generation of Japanese-Americans was extremely damaging to them and

to society.

The obsession to be recognized as American added a new level on the bottom rung of

Japanese-Americans social hierarchy. No-no boys were worse off compared to the treatment

received by other Japanese-Americans. Not only were they deemed less-than by the American

government, they were seen as less-than by other Japanese-Americans. When Ichiro first comes

back home, he runs into an old associate. They have a normal conversation at first but the moment

the associate discovers that Ichiro is a no-no boy, his entire demeanor changes. He spits on Ichiro

and insults him. Part of the reason no-no boys, like Ichiro, are treated horribly is because they didnt

choose to be American, they chose to be a Jap. Being a Jap was equal to being an enemy of the

United States in the eyes of society. Other Japanese-Americans who were actually American

attempted to differentiate themselves as much as possible from no-no boys. They were shouting to

the rest of America that Hey, this guys a Jap, but Im not. Japs are scum. But Im not. Im truly

American. The reasons for no-no boys rejecting the draft were complex. The country that betrayed

them and sent them to internment camps was now asking them to die for it. The new power

dynamic within Japanese-American society failed to heal the wounds left by their treatment by the

American government and instead created new scars.

Japanese-Americans were willing to abandon friends and families to be recognized as

American. The discrimination towards no-no boys drove friends and families apart. Freddie, an old

friend of Ichiros, is abandoned by all of his friends once he comes back from serving prison time for

refusing the draft. Ichiros brother, Taro, is extremely cold to him once Ichiro returns to his house.

Taro even goes to the extent of setting his brother up to be beaten up by Taros friends. In addition,

Taro goes to join the army once he turns eighteen, before he graduates high school, going against

the wishes of both his parents and his brother. Taro wants to redeem his familys reputation and
prove to himself and others that he is really American unlike Ichiro. Treating Japanese-Americans

as scum left scars in their society. It created a social hierarchy within Japanese-American society

that drove them to abandon, insult, and discriminate against each other.

In order to be American, not only did they have to differentiate themselves from no-no boys,

they had to act American by discriminating against other minorities. Ichiro and his friend Gary, who

is religious, had attempted to find a church that accepted Japanese-Americans. Gary was so

desperate to be accepted by members of his religion that he was willing to shun African Americans

in order to join the only church that accepted him. African Americans were also kicked out of a

Japanese establishment that Ichiro was at for no other reason than the fact that their skin was dark.

Discriminating against African Americans was an accepted norm of American society, and now it

was a norm for the Japanese-Americans as well. This simply helped cement the notion that

Japanese-Americans were real Americans. They were better than others like real Americans.

This was proved by the fact that they were loyal to the United States and acted by White American

norms.

What happens when an entire generation of people are ostracized by the government and

treated as enemies of the country? No-No Boy examines the consequences of this. There is a loss of

rove that theyre

identity of an entire generation of Japanese-Americans. Suddenly they have to p

real Americans. Suddenly they have to get the rest of society to overlook their race. How do they

do this? They joined the army voluntarily to prove they were loyal to the United States alone. They

differentiated themselves from no-no boys to prove that theyre nothing like them even if they were

once friends or family. They accepted other American norms such as discriminating against other

minorities such as African Americans. No-No Boy examines the brutal truth of this time period and

shows that ostracizing an entire race is incredibly damaging and will leave scars.