Dwight Okita’s poem “In Response to Executive Order 9066” addresses issues such as identity, and discrimination as a result of cultural hybridity. The narrator of the poem is a fourteen year old Japanese girl who writes a letter to the government in response to Executive Order 9066. As the title of the poem implies the historical context of the poem is the time when president Franklin D Roosevelt signed the Executive Order 9066. After two months of the Japanese attack on the Pearl Harbour Roosevelt signed the order, which orders the removal of over 12000 people of Japanese descent from the West Coast. This resulted in their loss of home, job and all other possessions including human rights.
Okita uses the form letter to represent the innocence as well as the horrors in the mind of the young people who were forced to leave to the camps. The narrator presents the the people in her life, from father to best friend in the letter. The relevance of racial identity among children is presented by the best friend. Through the first person narrative, poet presents the contrast between two cultures, one she came from and the other she grew up.
tje narrator is a normal, naive American girl even though she is of Japanese origin. She says to the government that it is obvious that I will be coming to the camp and I have packed. Her innocence is visible when she mentions about the tomato seeds. Her father warns her that they don’t grow there. The cultural dilemma faced by the girl can be find when she mentions about her inability to use chopsticks and her love for hotdogs.
The following lines after this shows the horrors of migration, war and racial identity among children. Denise and the narrator were best friends. But after being aware that narrator is of Japanese origin her friend has started to discriminate her. She said “you are going to start a war”. Denise also told her to keep their mouth shut, and not to give secrets to the enemies. Thus these lines suggest that even innocent people were considered as enemies or “other” as a result of war. Even being a young naive girl, the narrator is discriminated.But she looks upon this discrimination with hope and love and gives Denise tomato seeds and tells her that “she would miss her”.
Through this poem Okita presents themes like discrimination, innocence and ignorance. Both the characters are ignorant. The narrator is ignorant about her being discriminated, and it’s reason, about her future in the camps. The friend is ignorant about war and considers and stereotypes every Japanese as enemies. This shows her ignorance. Innocence is the primary theme of the poem through which the narrator is unfolding her feelings and hope. Poet shows how war and relocation affect the common people and children who are not even part of that.
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