Discussion Questions
Use our LitLovers Book Club Resources; they can help with discussions for any book:
• How to Discuss a Book (helpful discussion tips)
• Generic Discussion Questions—Fiction and Nonfiction
• Read-Think-Talk (a guided reading chart)
Also, consider these LitLovers talking points to help get a discussion started for Adios to Tears:
1. Talk about young Seiichi's ambition to become educated. What did an education mean to him? What obstacles did he face in achieving his goal, both within his own family and society?
2. What are some of the cruelties and injustices in his homeland that shocked and angered Seiich, even as a young child?
3. Seiichi ran off to Sapporo for a possible job. During the interview, when asked if he had the approval of his parents, what prompted Seiichi to tell the truth? Why didn't he lie to get the job? Was his truthfulness a result of his own character, his upbringing, or Japan's cultural values...or all three?
4. Peru hosted one of the largest Japanese communities in the Americas. It would be interesting to research the community— how it developed, it's cultural practices, the development of social bonds within, and its connection to the larger Peruvian society.
5. What cultural differences did Higashide notice between the Peruvian Japanese and his Japanese homeland? In describing Mr. Karihara and his Electric Light Company, for instance—does his tone seem appreciative or condescending?
6. How did the maxim, "shortsightedness is a forbidden luxury," help Higashide build up his business? What other practices and philosophies helped him prosper? What role did his wife play in developing the business?
7. In the beginning of World War II, the first rumblings of anti-Japanese sentiment seemed just that...rumblings. Trace the gradual deterioration in the treatment of the Japanese Peruvians by the host country—from those initial rumblings to round-up and eventual deportation. Were you struck by parallels with Nazi Germany (in kind if not degree)?
8. Higashide felt guilty for naming Mr. Yamoshira as the past president of the Japanese Association, especially as Yamoshira was singled out before Hagashide was. Was Higashide at fault?
9. The Lima officer in charge of deportation told Higashide that he had to operate under "the demand of the United States. We are not in a position to take opposing measures," he claimed. What U.S. national interest was at stake in Peru at that time? How genuine, or serious, was the threat by Peruvian Japanese to the U.S. war effort?
10. Discuss this lengthy passage by Higashide. Its sentiment lies at the heart of his book. Higashide had always looked upon America as the "model for the rest of the world." He goes on to say, however, that regarding their deportation from Peru and internment on U.S. soil ...
Americans in the United States also were not blameless. Why had that country moved to take such unacceptable measures? Where was the spirit of individual rights and justice that filled the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. If I termed Peru, even provisionally, a "third rate country," was not American, in this instance, no different? [Sic]
Even if under emergency wartime conditions, was America not in violation of individual rights? This was not, I felt, only a matter of inter-national law, it was a broader issue of human rights. Of course, undeniably, the Axis powers perpetrated similar outrages, yet could I not hope that America alone would not do so?
Does American safety ever trump the protection of individual rights? If so, at what point, and who makes the determination? If not, how is American safety to be ensured? In either case, what kind of oversight should be put in place?
11. Eventually, the U.S. referred to the Japanese Peruvians as "enemy aliens" by the U.S. What similarities might exist with regards to suspected terrorists after 9/11?
12. Discuss conditions of the camp in Crystal City, Texas. At one point, Higashide called it a "barbed-wire utopia." What did he mean by that phrase? Did the conditions, even if humane... or even pleasant, justify the policy of internment or make it perhaps acceptable?
13. Talk about the irony that after the war 12 Central and South American counties refused to allow the Japanese internees re-entry—and, as a result, the internees came to be classified as "illegal immigrants" by the U.S.
14. Regarding the tragic circumstances of Mr. Wantanabe (who died shortly after his wife, the two having been reunited after a 10-year separation), Higashide said, "A life disrupted could not be healed and reconstructed as before." Couldn't this same statement apply equally to all peoples involved in war? Or was there something different about the Peruvian Japanese interned in the U.S?
15. Why did Higashide decide to remain in the U.S? And, again, what obstacles did he and his family face in creating a life and eventually becoming citizens.
16. One of the central questions this book raises, particularly in the forward by C. Harvey Gardiner, is the lack of redress by the U.S. for Latin American Japanese internees? In 1988 Japanese American internees received an official apology and $20,000 from the U.S.—and that took more than 45 years. In 1998, as part of a settlement in a lawsuit brought by Latin American Japanese, the U.S. offered an apology and $5,000. Some accepted, though hundreds refused the settlement as unfair. Other lawsuits since have been filed and dismissed. Discuss the fairness—or unfairness—of this lack of proper redress. (See Campaign for Justice press release, 8/7/08)
The ultimate questions raised by this book concern current U.S. policy:
- Could this kind of internment happen in the U.S. today?
- Is it happening now?
- Should internment (secret or otherwise) ever be permitted in order to protect U.S. lives?
- Who makes that determination?
- How do we safeguard human rights when some, inside or outside our borders, using covert means, would threaten American lives?
(Questions by LitLovers. Please feel free to use them, online or off, with attribution. Thanks.)
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