Oppositions And Reconciliation In John Okada's No-No Boy
This review analyzes Stan Yogi’s “’You Had to Be One or the Other’: Oppositions and Reconciliation in John Okada’s No-No Boy,” agreeing with the main points and proposing additional suggestions to the argument’s claim. Yogi centers his analysis on Ichiro Yamada, a twenty-five-year-old Nisei who struggles to accept his wartime actions (63). Yogi strongly argues that John Okada eradicates the term “model minority”, or the overcoming of racial and cultural barriers that defines the Japanese-American community, by exemplifying the internal conflicts behind this praise. Moreover, Yogi analyzes the visible opposition to a “Japanese-American” identity and the embracement of “mutually exclusive” Japanese and American identities that John Okada presents (63-64). Conversely, according to Yogi, Okada explores the polarizing hostility between individuals and the community. Yogi concludes that healing is possible within both the Nikkei community and America (74). While the article provides a partially
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Other interpretations could benefit the claim as well. For instance, instead of dedicating paragraphs to the exclusion of the other characters, Yogi should put more emphasis on Ichiro’s exclusion. Discussing the scene in the novel where a church prohibits Ichiro and a friend from attending, with the realization that “… they weren’t welcome,” could strengthen the claim that internal conflicts still persist (203). The scene where Ichiro confirms that he only knows “’[a] little bit’” of Japanese to assert his American-ness could also strengthen Yogi’s overall claim (193). Otherwise, the article provided a convincing new perspective, one that made me agree with the opposition and reconciliation created within No-No Boy up to a
Other interpretations could benefit the claim as well. For instance, instead of dedicating paragraphs to the exclusion of the other characters, Yogi should put more emphasis on Ichiro’s exclusion. Discussing the scene in the novel where a church prohibits Ichiro and a friend from attending, with the realization that “… they weren’t welcome,” could strengthen the claim that internal conflicts still persist (203). The scene where Ichiro confirms that he only knows “’[a] little bit’” of Japanese to assert his American-ness could also strengthen Yogi’s overall claim (193). Otherwise, the article provided a convincing new perspective, one that made me agree with the opposition and reconciliation created within No-No Boy up to a