They Called Us Enemy Discussion Questions

How does the point of view of a child in They Called Us Enemy affect the telling of the story?

They Called Us Enemy is told from the point of view of young George, who is only 5 years old when his family is taken away from their home and placed in an internment camp. Throughout the narrative, George remembers the childlike excitement of his time leading up to and in the camp, contrasting it with his parents’ experience and his understanding years later. From anticipating the “vacation” they are going on as they ride the train to the excitement of sleeping in a horse stall, young George views the world as only a child can. This helps the reader see the dual nature of what is happening—even as Mama and Daddy try to create normalcy for their children, what they are going through is anything but normal.

It also means that George, as the protagonist, doesn’t understand for many years how difficult the time in the camps was for many of the people incarcerated there or the dire situation created for Japanese Americans by the American government. His curiosity in the camp is in stark contrast to the horrors of what is happening to his people, preferring to think of each new event as an adventure. When the internees are given tags to wear, George simply thinks this is his train ticket. He imagines there are dinosaurs in the forest beyond the camp’s barbed wire. It isn’t until he leaves the camp that he understands the camp was “something like jail.” George’s constant childlike wonder helps ground the reader and contrasts his experience with that of the adults in the camp. 

How does incarceration shape identity in They Called Us Enemy?

George Takei explores the idea that his incarceration led to a feeling of shame. Though he knows as an adult that he and his family did nothing to deserve imprisonment, as a child he feels a sense of shame in his identity and at having been interned. This is evident when George’s teacher Mrs. Rugen uses a racial slur and treats him unkindly. He wonders for a long time about her actions, deciding that maybe she had a loved one who served in the war. This interaction impacts his sense of identity as he realizes that just how he looks and the fact that he was incarcerated may trigger racist ideas in many people—Mrs. Rugen is symbolic of many of America’s citizens.

Because George and his siblings are so young, incarceration also comes to feel normal. The camps are the only homes he can remember. Though his parents attempt to give him a normal life, when it comes time for him to leave the camp, it—not Los Angeles—feels like home. Incarceration has offered a safety net from the outside world that he must then enter. Yet as he becomes part of that outside world, his experience with incarceration becomes a story it is important to tell, and he devotes his life to this. So incarceration shapes his identity in different ways at different stages of life, making it one of his formative experiences.

In They Called Us Enemy, why does Takei come to view the camp as the family home that he misses?

Because he is a young boy when he enters the camp, George can’t remember much before life in the camps. In addition, Mama in particular does as much as possible to make the camp feel like a home, sewing curtains and weaving rugs, in addition to caring for her family as she always has. Other than the new “adventures” he experiences, life doesn’t change much for George, who is still surrounded by the love of his family.

Even as Mama and Daddy begin to explain what is happening in the camp and to Japanese and Japanese American people, the camp remains a home. When there is talk of the camps closing, George overhears his parents talking with fear about where they will go to be safe, and George realizes the very barbed wire imprisoning them is also keeping them safe. When the family is finally allowed to leave, Nancy Reiko cries for the camp, because it’s the only home she’s ever known, and George and Henry experience the difficulties of life outside the camp.

How is American democracy the people’s democracy, according to They Called Us Enemy?

In the memoir, George Takei’s father explains that America’s democracy is best because it’s a people’s democracy—he also calls it a participatory democracy. It’s a people’s democracy because the ideals of democracy are practiced—or not—by the people. All of the good parts of democracy are achieved by people coming together as a community to do amazing things. On the other hand, Daddy explains that people are also human and make human mistakes. Part of having a people’s democracy is that these mistakes can be big and devastating. President Roosevelt’s decision to sign the executive order interning Japanese Americans is an example.

George makes no secret that he feels American democracy betrayed him and the Japanese people living in the United States. Still, he echoes Daddy’s optimism for the best that democracy has to offer, even after all that he’s been through. That’s why he’s made it part of his legacy to help people understand the ways in which democracy failed. The best way to assure it never happens again, he believes, is to learn from the mistakes of the past.

How does the genre of graphic memoir affect the storytelling in They Called Us Enemy?

They Called Us Enemy is told in the form of a graphic memoir, an autobiographical telling of the story of George Takei and his family as they navigated the years after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Takei uses comic panels of images, combined with text, to tell his story through both images and words. The use of images helps Takei move the story in a powerful way, allowing the reader to see the action and visuals and to respond more easily to the emotions of the characters. For example, the reader can see George’s excitement as he embarks on his new “adventure” and juxtapose it with Daddy’s distress and sadness on the train.

The use of the graphic format also helps the reader understand Takei’s use of nonlinear sequence through his use of differing drawing styles. He jumps back and forth between three main time periods: the general present, in which he is an established actor and activist educating about his experiences; his youth spent in Japanese internment camps; and his life after internment, including his teenage years when he struggled with understanding his father’s reaction to internment.