What is the effect of using a fourteen-year-old girl as the narrator in “In Response to Executive Order 9066”? In terms of impact, how does this differ than it might with her father as the narrative voice?
By using the perspective of a young girl, Okita is able to convey the ways in which the internment camps and subsequent migration from the West affected their community, especially their most innocent members, the children. While the adults may be able to understand what is happening, like the narrator, all a child would know is that they are being forced away from their home, school, and friends, and being blamed for "giving secrets away to the Enemy." Okita employs the method of narration in order to envoke a greater sense of sympathy in his readers; while it is easy to feel sympathy for the common man, conveying his story from the perspective of a child often has a greater appeal to the emotions of others because of their innocence.
From Nick Klempan
ReplyDeleteI think that you nailed that one - great point. Using a child usually envokes sympathy from the reader. Most readers usually always have a "soft spot" for issues dealing with children and the author exploits this fact to make their point.