Japanese American Internment In No-No Boy

Okada continues to develop the tension between Ichiro and his mother by developing richer and more complex inner monologues. The further Ichiro feels pulled in one direction, the harder he pushes back away from it. “In the course of the novel, Okada reveals how many of these oppositions are false and how polarized notions that divide the community tend to collapse in upon themselves” (Yogi 21: 64). These incessant oscillations are evidenced throughout his unspoken emotions, a literary device which provides an outlet for Okada to continue layering complexity into Ichiro's search for self understanding. Exploring further the dichotomy of “Japanese” and “American,” it says:
Okada’s continued use of the word “half” in this quote exposes Ichiro’s
Okada clearly shows how all members of the Japanese American community suffered due to the American political policy of internment. Furthering the fragmentation of their community and familial bonds, the loyalty questionnaire established a mutually exclusive racial binary that forced people to chose “Japanese” or “American,” loyalty or disloyalty. Redefining identities within this artificially imposed dichotomy left many issei and nisei searching for a way to navigate their position within the postwar United States. When the book begins, Ichiro believes himself to be at the end of his journey. His identity is foreclosed: a no-no boy with no hope and no future. His focus centers on the choices he made and the consequences that he must now endure. Through his interactions with other characters, Ichiro finds that some reinforce his hopelessness and self-condemnation, while others offer alternative perspectives and inspire his hopes for the future. As Ichiro tests the merits and limitations to his “alternatives,” he ultimately discovers he must find his own