Week 2

[morgan...@gmail.com]

• Respond to at least 2 discussion posts
  
• Optional - respond to someone else's post
  

Discussion topics

1. There are a lot of different literary lenses that can be used with this book and especially with this section.  Two such lenses that seems rather blatant are Marxism and Feminism.  Would you use a literary lens with your kids when reading this, if so what would that look like and what lens/lenses would you use?
   
2. The historical view of the atomic bombs is that they saved far more lives and shortened the war.  The last few decades have seen a tremendous amount of weight being given to the idea that the atomic bombs weren’t needed but merely an act of revenge or dominance.  Barefoot Gen has a tremendous amount of weight towards the historic viewpoint, but there are ample points in the book that could be used to support both ideas.  Would you touch on either or both of these theories when teaching this book, if so how would you use this book?  I have seen many colleagues get extremely heated and emotional over this issue, so I do ask you to be especially respectful and careful if you decide to reply to any posts on this topic.
   
3. Apply the graphic novel pieces you learned about in the intro video to any part you find especially good in this section
   
4. Pages 22-24 – Analyze the depiction of the two types of characters here.  The good guys (Gen and his family) and the bad guys (the bullies).  What does this mean?  Basically the good guys are depicted in a far more European style (especially Gen) but the bad guys are drawn more like anti-Japanese WWII propaganda with the buck teeth, the slanted eyes, the military caps and military hair-cuts.
   
5. Page 36 – 2nd box, is this the author speaking to the reader?  Keep in mind the man has taken numerous blows to the mouth to have broken teeth and the visible swelling depicted.  Is his speaking here an author’s device or realistic?  If it is real then the question becomes is his restraint when speaking here an example of Japanese stoicism and proper behavior?  If so, explain how this fits with his dissent during spear drills and with the cops.   If it is a device of the author to speak to the reader, explain why it is included and how it might affect the text.
   
6. You might want to watch the brief optional history video for this one if you are not familiar with Japan’s creation myth and the attempted invasions by the Mongolians during the Yuan Dynasty of China.   Question P51 –the blackboard says the teacher is talking about the starting of Japan which should talk about the gods, the sword dipping into the ocean and so forth.  But instead the teacher is talking about WWII.  Is this a rant the teacher is on much as many of us have been known to get sidelined with, a sign of required dogma to be pushed into as many lessons as possible or is it a hint of something else, perhaps that Japan is being forged by this war and when it is over Japan will be born again. Explain your answer.
   
7. In this section we see a bunch of global issue topics that could be used for discussions or lesson tie-ins.  Things like victim shame, corporal punishment (something many of my immigrant students have first-hand knowledge of), child abuse…  Would you take advantage of any of this, if so what and how?
   
8. If you teach at a Christian school there’s something potentially interesting on page 67.  Would you use this to reference death by stoning and/or “let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”  
   
9. Explain the importance of the clogs getting ruined scene.
10. Do you have any questions at this point

[glas...@shaker.org]

2. While I haven’t read his book, I was lucky to hear Richard Frank speak concerning the reasoning behind dropping the bombs on Japan.  His book Downfall  is well informed and thoughtful on the matter and I agree with his hypothesis that the Japanese leaders would not have negotiated a surrender and at the same time were amassing forces on the island of Kyushu, the same spot American generals planned to invade.  Coupled with the mass firebombing of Tokyo and other Japanese cities and yet no peace talks, I could understand the reactions of American leaders on deciding to drop the bomb.  I have this discussion and use artifacts to have students’ better understand the complexity of the decision.  I then ask them to make the decision: What is the best way to end the war?  Often they come to the conclusion that dropping the bomb was necessary but doing so on these cities was not.  I point out that we have the view from our vantage points of 75 years later and it is hard not to become emotional after seeing the photos after the bombings or even better the video of Barefoot Gen, which truly touched my students.  

 

4. I did not notice the difference in characterization of Gen & his family vs. the bullies until the questions was asked.  It is interesting how European Gen’s family looks.  The bullies have larger ears, two of them have buck teeth and the other two look almost pig-like.  Nakazawa does seem to draw a line in the sand between his protagonists and the neighbors in both behavior and looks, such as the Chairman and the police captain.  Only the Korean is shown with any sympathy both in character and looks.  This is an interesting choice when you know what is about to happen to most of them.

[morgan...@gmail.com]

glasier

I'm glad that you were able to pull something new out of the art.  One thing that I bring up in my Japan Culture classes is the American invasion plan and its planned use of more than a dozen atomic bombs and the change in training/strategy for the suicide bombers.  Often we look at Little Boy and Fat Man in a tunnel vision when we consider the ethics of using them.  So many historical sources also like to perpetuate the idea that we only had 2 bombs in such a way as if to say that we would only had those two bombs and no other ones were being constructed or would be ready within days/weeks.  Granted this doesn't tackle the ethics of the bombs and the fact that knowledge about the after affects was pretty much nonexistent.  I think a good extension of the right/wrong debate of Little Boy and Fat Man is the effect they had on the world, particularly the Cold War and current events pertaining to Iran and North Korea.  

[epi...@apps.homewood.k12.al.us]

Week 2  Week 2 (June 12th) Pages 9 through 86  Liz Pipkin’s responses

Discussion topics

1.            There are a lot of different literary lenses that can be used with this book and especially with this section.  Two such lenses that seems rather blatant are Marxism and Feminism.  Would you use a literary lens with your kids when reading this, if so what would that look like and what lens/lenses would you use?

 

Barefoot Gen does represent trauma as “A-bomb literature”using the manga cartooning platform.  The literary lens that could be used is bullying as demonstrated by the neighbors in Gen’s neighborhood bullying the family due to his father’s different views on war and honor.  The country of Japan was hurting from years of war but the people bullied each other based on different culturally dominant group and subordinate ones.  I would use the lens of bullying to help see how it looks by students and adults alike when times are stressful. The victim suffering from harm vs. victimizer causing harm is a universal theme.  The Japanese have terms, higai vs. kagai  duality as well as historically constructed relations of power between the economically, politically, racially differences among the Japanese people during this time of expansion of Japan into other countries. 

2.            The historical view of the atomic bombs is that they saved far more lives and shortened the war.  The last few decades have seen a tremendous amount of weight being given to the idea that the atomic bombs weren’t needed but merely an act of revenge or dominance.  Barefoot Gen has a tremendous amount of weight towards the historic viewpoint, but there are ample points in the book that could be used to support both ideas.  Would you touch on either or both of these theories when teaching this book, if so how would you use this book?  I have seen many colleagues get extremely heated and emotional over this issue, so I do ask you to be especially respectful and careful if you decide to reply to any posts on this topic.

A U.S. perspective as a conquering nation in the war views the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombing as necessary to end the war and thus beneficial. Whereas a Japanese perspective would views the bombing as being totally inhumane and intolerable from the fire bombing first then the dropping of the Atomic Bomb.  The two views demonstrate suffering from harm vs. causing harm and the trauma that resulted.  This format of victim victimized to be used for the use of the atomic bombs.

I would have to use the points to discuss with my students of the bomb could have been racially motivated. Anti-Japanese racism in American society targeted the Japanese as a race of people, and demonstrated it at a level of hatred comparable with Nazi anti-Jewish propaganda.  The Japanese people were dehumanized as being snakes, cockroaches, and rats, and their entire culture was mocked, including language, customs, and religious beliefs. Anti-Japanese imagery was being viewed to all ages of US citizens:  Bugs Bunny cartoons, popular music, post cards, children’s toys, magazine advertisements, and in a wide array of novelty items ranging from ash trays to “Jap Hunting License” buttons.  This racism was demonstrated at many levels throughout the United States and was more directed toward Japanese than the Europeans.  The human rights issue was at stake in the actions taken to end the War in the Pacific-since it wanted to be known as the model for rights.  United States citizens on both coasts were rounded up since they were of the Japanese race-they were denied their basic liberties under the Constitution, and sent to isolated camps in the deserts, surrounded by barbed wire, until the war’s end or internments on the East Coast stripped of their rights as US citizens.

The act of bombing  was an illegal act by the United States  due to the September 39, 1938 law set by the League of Nations, "under the recognized principles of international law," outlawing the intentional bombing of civilian populations, with special emphasis against bombing military objectives from the air.  This could be argued on many levels but this discussion had already been brought up and looked at on a global platform.  I think this conversation is still relevant, since the atomic bomb had not been made as to the many weapons of destruction that have not been made yet.

There were other alternatives that were not discussed in the public forum, such as: a demonstration of power.  The US could have sent a clear message to the Japanese as well as the Russians of the United States military might.  Another alternative was to continue the firebombing, since the country was already devastated from lack  of basic supplies due to the long wars the Japanese had been engaged in for years.  Barefoot Gen shows the toll the militaristic government had done to the Japanese people with the continual suffering of its people.

[Lori Stubben]

6. With Shintoism and nationalism guiding the emperor worship and the actual fact of typhoons saving Japan in the 13 century twice, the Japanese had to convince themselves that they would win the war at any cost. Gen's teacher has bought the state propaganda as he and so many had relatives already dead or about to be for what they must justify- is Japan being re-created by this war? Well their population is certainly decreasing and the country was born again with the economic boom to come, so in that way, over the long haul it worked out for the country in general, but at a huge cost.

7. This is a major question for me. The issue of child abuse has me considering whether this book is appropriate for 8th graders or not. The section at school with the sister stripped down and humiliated, is that realistic? Nakazawa must have put that in the memoir because it really happened. Very shocking. An even bigger issue for me is all the bashing about of Gen by his father. Is that because this is a comic- like batman/superman? Is that how most families operated in Japan in the 40s- with the father dominating by violence? I would definitely have to talk with students about all of this as it is a bit touchy not knowing how their parents treat them.

Has anyone taught this with 8th grade before?

[morgan...@gmail.com]

Epipkin

The theme of bullying is definitely a strong one throughout the book. So far we've seen class-based bullying, but as the book goes on we'll see other forms.  So I think given the current climate in the US looking at this book in terms of bullying or injustices will be very effective.  

You also show a strong passion over the injustices and racism of WWII, none of which can be (or should be) denied.  The comic depiction of Japanese people during WWII propaganda was dramatically different from the depiction of Nazis and Hitler.  Of course the Japanese depiction of Americans/Europeans in their East and South-East Asia propaganda was similarly dehumanizing.  The myth of Americans eating Asians is depicted/written on some of this propaganda and later perpetuated by others during the Cold War.  About 7-8 years ago I still had some refugee students who grew up hearing this propaganda.  

In my classes we spend a fair bit of time looking at propaganda from both sides and dissecting the images and words.  Something I also like to mix into this unit are parts of Lt. Onoda's book (we read other excerpts later on in the unit).  A big theme in the book is the effect of propaganda and perceived propaganda.  If you have not read Hiroo Onoda's book, I think it is a very powerful piece, although a bit dry and minutia focused for most students.  

One thing that some of my students have found interesting about the US citizen internment is the spotty application of US policy in Hawaii.  I don't have the exact numbers in front of me, but I believe it was something like 1/4-to-1/3 of those with Japanese ancestry in Hawaii were ... collected by authorities.  Part of this was likely due to the sheer number of Japanese-Americans in Hawaii. But this has led to some interesting discussions too.

[morgan...@gmail.com]

Lori

You are right that there is a lot of abuse in the book.  Having taught overseas and visited schools in South-East Asia and remembering back to what was allowed in the US not that long ago (schools, homes and communities), I have to say that I consider the abuse (parental, school authority and police) to be completely plausible.  

On Tinian parental "discipline" through the use of violence was not uncommon, thankfully it seems to be decreasing more and more as time goes by.  In Thailand many of my students' parents had to deal with both physical punishments from teachers and public humiliation if they failed to perform.  I've had some of those same parents tell me (emphatically) to beat their children if they get off task or lazy in my classroom.  Even my grandfather, who grew up in Iowa, told me stories about getting abused and bloodied by teachers in school and then getting physically punished again when he got home for doing something to deserve the assault.  One such story included him bringing a squirt gun to school.  When the teacher found it they smashed the gun up against his head, breaking the gun into pieces and causing my grandfather to scar.  When he got home he received a beating from his father too.  My mother and her siblings once walked bloody and beaten to a Minnesota police station to report their parents only to be told that they probably deserved it and were sent back home.

In 2017 I think that Gen's father would not be allowed to beat his kids like that.  I do also think that some of the beatings are probably exaggerated.  For example on page 17 (and many other pages) we see the father punch Gen and his brother, both go flying across the room to slam into a wall.  The physics alone in that make it likely to be an exaggeration, but I do believe that the abuse did happen.

I have not taught this book with 8th graders, but I have taught it with 10th graders and have no concerns about using it with 9th graders.  Ironically the issue that I checked with my administration before I taught it was not the abuse (they had no problems with that), it was the nudity.  My administration didn't have a problem with the scene, but there was some concern about female nudity.  Teenage boys being...well teenage boys, I was just asked to talk to the students before they got to that point to express certain expectations.  So my advice is that you know your students better than anyone else.  So teaching the whole book with your kids is your decision, but as with any book, I would recommend checking with your administration first.  

[Elizabeth Arias]

#2.  Because I already do take the time to teach the differing perspectives on whether or not the atomic bombs were necessary and whether their use saved lives, especially the narrative of whose lives may have been saved and why they were considered more valuable than those who were gratuitously lost in Hiroshima, this book will add to that discussion greatly.  The scene where Kimie is protecting her children from being taken for punishment shows that to a family, all children are valuable, and, as an extension, to a society. I would use this series of pages to discuss how the power dynamic in these scenes played out in the war as a whole, and how the power dynamic between nations plays out in a similar fashion.  We spend a great deal of time looking at power dynamics in the lives of my students and their families, given the significance of power in their lives (and all of our lives, as well), so Kimie winning a power struggle would be impactful for my student demographic.

#5.  I certainly cannot claim any inside knowledge as to whether the author is speaking or the character, but I could see either as being true.  Nakaoka could have been speaking, and his restraint with the officers could have been attributed to Japanese stoicism, but I would argue that he may have been trying to protect his family being treated poorly or stigmatized because of his beliefs or behavior.

On the other hand, it certainly could be the author speaking and making a generalization and submitting his conclusions in hindsight.  This would be a feasible idea for the author to use, in the absence of a different manner to assert these ideas, to put the words into Nagaoka's mouth because they were in line with what his ideals were at the time.

[bac...@pps.k12.mi.us]

2. This is a great topic to have students work with. I've had 9th grade students run a debate and definitely get powerful responses. We do this after we conclude our study of World War II. Ethics, strategy, and the possibility that the bombings were actually war crimes come up.

     I make certain to cover with students that this debate has been going on since before the bombing and that we certainly didn't "solve" it during our class time. I ask if they can see both sides, whether they agree or not.  It is an interesting class period!

5. Not just in this particular panel, but all throughout, I would ask what wording is actually the author speaking. Is the whole book the author, whether using other voices or not? Is not author bias a part of every page?  With that being said, how about what the author's intent may be in what is NOT said? Omission is a powerful force.

     I think in this instance, it is the author using this character's voice to get across a strong point about war, both specifically in WWII and in war generally.

[nahow...@gmail.com]

Topic 2: I did something like this with my class this past year when we read Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. We watched a Brainpop video on the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the reasoning behind it. The video also touched on both sides (it was needed vs it was not), which lead to a class discussion with my kids.  Luckily, with middle school kids this wasn’t a heated debate, and they enjoyed discussing the topic.  This book would give some added insight from Japanese perspective, and what his point of view on the events that led to the bombing.

Topic 6: I believe that the teacher in this scene is definitely presenting these students with current dogma of the superiority of Japan. He may have begun discussing the gods and the creation myth (or the students may already be familiar with it), and the greatness that Japan enjoyed in times past. With Japan’s isolationist policies that they had for several hundred years, they had to play catch up with other nations. Also, the fact that the after WWI their allies basically left them out of peace negations, the Japanese wanted to prove themselves. They may also had looked at their German allies building another great Empire, and wanted to rebuild their former glory. Enforcing loyalty to the emperor of Japan and having the children writing letters to the soldiers to kill the enemies of Japan further the political agenda of Japan’s superiority.

[mgbl...@gmail.com]

 QUESTION 3: 

                Taking the introductory video clip on graphic novels into consideration, it is my understanding that Nakazawa is using techniques to communicate implicit messages about the actors of the WWII tragedy, its victims and villains, and in general the dimensions of the real world. Examples of tools that Nakazawa is employing to achieve the above consist of, first, showing without telling, and last shading for importance, which are both effective strategies for developing graphic novels.   

                To begin with, an illustration of meaning is evident in the fourth box from left to right on p. 22, when we see the picture of Ryukichi, the chairman’s son, in focus with the accompanying bullies as a backdrop to his overpowering presence, and all appearing with no bubbles to their bodies, or no caption by the narrator that would explain what is happening. The emphasis is, thus, on the villains and their appearance that, obviously, differs given the slanted eyes and the military garment, or facial expression, they all wear on their body, or face, respectively.  Barefoot Gen and his family are contrasted against such human bodies as their appearances resemble more the outlooks of a European and, thus, they are treated as more innocent and victims of war, rather than instigators and wishers of warfare and destruction.   Also, on p. 23, in the third box, we see just few clogs floating in the river/sea without any caption, or bubble dialogue box(es). The emphasis is placed on the irretrievable loss that demands a separate box to communicate this seriousness of destruction for Barefoot Gen’s family given the wartime conditions, and the financial straits that plague the city and nation as a whole.  

                Finally, instances of using shading are prevalent in select moments, such as when presenting the four bullies in the above example in such a way as to highlight them coming out from darkness of inaction into the reality of action, the light of day, daring to act in a rude and cruel way against the light of reality, sensible perception, and moral sensibility. In such a way, an identification of the bullies to the military dictatorship that had taken over Japan is given a spotlight for analysis. In addition, the third box on page 23 shows the clogs in a darker backdrop to emphasize the watery surface where the clogs are floating, and thus a reason for their being destroyed, because water permeates the wooden texture of clogs, spoils their quality, and devalues their price for sale.  Shading, overall, makes the sense of suffering and conflicts more apparent to the reader in order to help them understand the conditions of wartime in Japan, and the agency of the military machine behind the catastrophic events of WWII.

QUESTION 6:

The global issues that I see prominent in our reading selections suggest to me instances of the dehumanization of individuality.  Such dehumanization happens, first, as a form of punishment to those of opposing ideology and faith. Dehumanization takes place, in addition, in the midst of the familial environment of the home and the members of the family that make up Barefoot Gen’s immediate surroundings.   

               First and foremost, dehumanization occurs at the social level, particularly, when   the teacher hits Eiko (p. 56), or the teacher hits Ryukichi (p. 82) in the incident with the false accusation of Eiko for theft at school, which served ulterior motives of revenge and hatred by officials that perceived the ideological opposition of the family to war as a threat and an attack against the government, the military, and the honor of Japan. Eiko is shown as a victim that is forced to experience shame with the exposure of her upper body and the discipline of sitting in that position for hours in a separate room. Barefoot Gen is shocked to witness the fact and becomes emotional and reactive, as a result. Students will connect to such an experience, which it can relate to the experience of bullying which has as its purpose to shame the victim and render her/him powerless and ashamed, unable to respond, or cause the victim to lose her/his self-esteem, next to her/his ability to choose and act on self-will and dignity.   

            Moreover, instances of dehumanization express themselves in the form of corporal punishment, such as when the mother strikes Barefoot Gen and Sinji, the instance she learns her two boys attacked physically a police officer, after the latter passed judgment on them on behalf of their father, whom the police officer called a traitor. (p. 47) Moreover, the father hits Barefoot Gen because his son spoke dishonorably about the Koreans for whom the father holds his devout respect. (p. 73) Nonetheless, such instances represent the frustrations of the parents for the lack of control over their circumstances, not their lack of love and affection for their children, whom they hold in dearest sentiments.  In most cases, that is, we witness the parents embracing their children to show their deep love and concern for their children’s well-being, after they have just disciplined them. This discipline is highly suggestive of being used to make their children strong against the cruelties of war, not to destroy their selfhood, although such treatment is perceived by modern readers as being dehumanizing, and perhaps by students themselves due to its graphic dimensions.

         Overall, the above global issues that are existing in the novel can serve as a springboard for engaging discussions in the classroom. Students can connect with the protagonist and identify with his struggles, and those of his family, because conflicts usually exist in the classroom and at home in students’ lives, especially if students come from low socio-economic homes, or they are refugees. The story of Barefoot Gen can have an empowering effect on them and a catharsis, in general, in the way of helping students read and imagine a crisis, and reach understanding and moral transformation.  

[aethe...@kapaun.org]

Questions #6: I am not surprised that the teacher would be tying in the creation myth with WWII in the classroom to perpetuate an ideal or skew a world view in order to fit the needs of the country. Children are the most malleable for propagating a dogma. It would be no different than the Nazis using Jews as villains in primary nursery tales.  If Japan wants to show that it is superior and impenetrable, then it would praise its creation and its divine protection from enemies. Then by giving the school children a great sense of nationalism, the government would later be able to convince them to suffer (to go without certain luxuries), fight, and die for their beloved country. How would we know these techniques? Here is why telling the story from a young Japanese boy is important. While the story may be peppered with commentary from an older writer, hints of the experience are there from someone who lived it.

Question #7: One thing that stood out to me was the character of smiling Mr. Pak, the Korean. He stands out as a foil to some of the Japanese propaganda in his actions.  He, too, is ostracized by the society. After Gen sarcastically says "Oh don't be mean to Koreans..." and "Chinese and Koreans are stupid", he gets reprimanded by his father and given a prospective about war--be friends to avoid war.  In a way, it is a bit of commentary to the reader. Here we have see Mr. Pak give rice to a Japanese family without want of payment. He is not stupid, but a caring human being. Mr. Pak is not taking out revenge of what the Japanese government did to him and/or his family by purposely starving Gen's family. Instead, Mr. Pak is illustrating Gen's father's commentary about friendship and the contradiction of the words from the government. This section could also be a lesson, too, for students to notice that rumors or beliefs may not be true. For instance, people may think Sally is a mean girl, but after you get to know Sally, you learn that she has Asperger's and needs help with social skills, but she is really good at math puzzles.

[glas...@shaker.org]

I agree about your analysis on how the dropping of the bombs played out in a larger context even today.  Most American seem to have a short memory that we are the only country to have used such weapons in a war and how other countries may see us because of that.  

[glas...@shaker.org]

I enjoyed your analysis of the pictures Nakazawa used to convey meaning to the reader.   This is something I need to get better with my students when reading graphic novels.  I need to better help them understand the visual elements of reading.  I used a graphic novel of the Constitution once with struggling readers, hoping the images would help them better understand the topics being presented, but I did not spend enough time teaching about the format and lesson failed.  Spending some time looking at the images, and thinking about their purpose would help the reader better understand the novel in a more complex manner.  I hope to try again with my students.

[mdz...@gmail.com]

Question 4. Given that I teach 6^th grade, to students with a wide range of comprehension skills, this is one topic that I think will have some resonance with them. It’s a very concrete question, and they will be able to really delve into it. I think that it would be beneficial for them to view some actual propaganda from the period, especially given that they will have viewed some of it already in the form of the Captain America and Wonder Woman franchises. They can then compare how the warring countries viewed one another through this particular prism – and then discuss how Nakazawa exploited these propagandistic renderings in his own art. It might be interesting to discuss Nakazawa’s own artistic intentions. Do you know of a good article about them in this regard?

Also, I loved this quote: ‘When Gen first appeared, I warned my wife to be prepared to get hate mail or threatening phone calls. Not a thing. Gen only got praise. Even the right-wingers cried when they read it!’ I’d be curious as to these readers’ reactions to how the ‘goodies’ and ‘baddies’ were depicted.

Question 5. In truth, I think it might well be both an authorial device and realistic. One of the things that makes me most curious is how Nakazawa uses a certain wry (and, at other times, over-the-top) humor in balancing the more realistic depictions he also wants to get across to the reader. (My thoughts kept on returning to Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 while I was reading. There is an undeniable truth to be found, even – or perhaps especially – in the absurdities of war. In this way, the commentaries speak even more plainly.) I think that perhaps Nakazawa’s point is that protest is protest. At times, using the breaking of wind during spear drills to point out an absurdity can have an almost equal weight to the subsequent breaking of teeth later in the story – it only shows the horrors of wartime more starkly. It makes the serious points the author makes more explicitly only more resonant.

If you would let me know your thoughts on the Japanese approaches to humor (the more subtle and the more absurd), I’d be much obliged to you!

[crenn...@gmail.com]

4. It's hard to say whether Nakazawa might have wanted his "bad guys" to conform to American caricatures of Asians. Of the four children in the second box on p. 22, only one has buckteeth and slant eyes that really bear a resemblance to "yellow peril" or anti-Japanese propaganda I've seen.

The eyes are one of the prominent differences between Gen's family and most of the other characters in the book. Gen's eyes are probably closest to the wide-eyed style you see in a lot of manga and anime. The "bad guys" here and elsewhere in the book sometimes display blank eyes. For instance, Ryukichi's eyes go blank as he denounces Gen's father further down on 22. Earlier, the other trainees' eyes go blank as they denounce the father as a "traitor." If this happens in other manga, this isn't something I've seen before.

 

2. If I did raise the question about where the text stands on the bombing of Hiroshima, I would want to be especially careful about framing it and including other representative perspectives. As I understand it, one reason proponents have given for the historical view is that the Japanese were not close to surrendering, even after bloody defeats at Iwo Jima and Okinawa and punishing bombing campaigns.

The book does suggest that popular sentiment was not in favor of surrender. In Gen's community, virtually no one other than Gen's father is openly in favor of surrender. Other members of the community seem to believe that war is still a viable option. In class, the teacher still insists, "The wind of the gods will blow away any enemies that come near. Japan will win the war for sure." It's possible that some of the characters who call Gen's father a traitor are simply keeping up appearances, but there are features of the book that make their views seem genuine. For one thing, as I mentioned in my response to another question, the eyes of characters go blank as they denounce Gen's father. It is almost like they are possessed by these beliefs.

Later, as the family hears the bombing of a Navy port in Kure, Gen's mother notes, "Dear, isn't it strange that the B-29s have burned down most of the big cities in Japan, but they haven't attacked Hiroshima?" Her statement emphasizes the destruction that has happened already. If so much destruction hasn't altered public opinion, the argument might go, what might?

Then again, we know from the preface how things turned out for Nakazawa's family. Gen's family suffers terribly during the war, but the bomb that ends the war will cause their greatest pain. 

[semba...@gmail.com]

#6)

I think Japanese school teachers were encouraged to include the message of loyalty to country and emperor in every lesson and as much as possible.  The idea of Japan being favored by the gods (divine wind) after the defeat of the Mongol invasions was used to promote the idea that Japan would be protected against any assault.  Probably any lesson could be twisted into some kind of pro-Japan propaganda message, but it would be especially prevalent in any lesson about Japan's origins, given that the emperor was thought to be descended from the sun goddess, Amaterasu.

#9)

The scene where the clogs get ruined represents the sequence of escalating violence from Nakaoka's decision to speak out against the war.  Nakaoka makes fun of the spear drill, the children are then attacked by the chairman's son who destroys the hard work of their parents, Gen bites off the tip of Ryukichi's finger, then the police are sent to take away Daikichi Nakaoka.  I think it would also be important to talk about the trampling of the wheat here - this is an instance of the family suffering a setback (trampling) after working hard to advance their survival.  I would also let the students know about the Japanese proverb "The nail that sticks up gets hammered down."  Standing out in any way is not seen as a good thing even today in Japan, and standing out by speaking against the war during that time was a very brave act, but also an extremely dangerous one.

[topher...@gmail.com]

Re: Literary Criticism. I have taught literary criticism to my 11th graders before to surprising results. My students are not motivated readers and often struggle to make sense of some of the texts we are reading. They are dutiful in picking out literary techniques and themes, etc. but do not read enough on their own to be adept or confident in doing this. Surprisingly to me, they enjoyed literary criticism because it gave them a framework to engage with each text. It was almost as if it took some of the interpretative burden off their own shoulders. I haven't taught lit crit in a while, but I was definitely thinking about Marx while reading through this book: it is a classic text for that literary lens. I also agree there is a strong feminist reading that can be applied. These might be interesting supports for deeper looks into the text. Some of the messages in the text are so blatant that fitting the messages into a tradition of literary criticism (perhaps linking to other texts with similar messages) might be a cool project that places the text in a wider historical and literary context. 

      The scene with the clogs stands out as important initially because a text with "barefoot" in its title would likely use shoes (or clogs in this instance) as a means to build meaning in the text. This scene certainly introduces or reinforces a number of themes that have become central. First, the idea of traitors is important. Don't tell anyone but my 5-year old son is obsessed with this book and has been begging me to read it to him. We have read most of the book together (don't judge) and last night when my wife asked him what it is about, he said the word "traitor" keeps coming up. So it seems that traitors is a central theme. And this is yet another example of what happens to Nakaoka because of his anti-war perspective. So much more is happening in this scene though. Here is a short list:

1. The hunger theme is reinforced with the father making the decision to sell the clogs and buy food instead of supplies.

2. Gen's rage is glimpsed as he sticks up for his family. This of course recurs.

3. The random misogyny of the bullies who call to strip Eiko belies the fact that this is not just about the war. A trope in literature of "losing shoes" or "getting feet wet" (both of which happen in this scene) is often a stand in for losing virginity or having sexual relations. This, in connection with #4 below, makes for some interesting reading and interpretation.

4. The Gen biting/castration is introduced (shockingly!) and later comes up again (not as shockingly but still as disturbing).

5. The idea that Gen and Eiko lie to their parents to cover up the problems caused by the parents (at least partially, I don't mean to blame the victim here).

6. The suffering and retribution that is ultimately caused by a society that can legally punish those who think differently.

Not a bad list for such a short scene, but I am left wondering what the relationship to the clogs is. Why is the father painting clogs? What does it have to do with the title? I would love to hear what others think but I think of this scene (for now) as a coming out party for Gen's rage. I'm not totally satisfied with this idea, so I am curious to read other posts about this topic.

[Donna Kokojan]

2.  I have mixed feelings about the atomic bomb.  I feel that different people wanted it used for different reasons.  My great-uncle was a prisoner of war  during WW II, so I have a slanted point of view. Historically, I believe decisions were made to exploit  general societal emotions. Our government wanted  to use this  popular belief, but I believe they had a hidden agenda.  I believe the same was true for the Japanese government.  

 

It is my understanding that the U.S. dropped fire bombs on Japan and they were close to surrendering.  I was taught that dropping the bomb was something the president wanted to do to show the strength of America,  that Japan was warned that the bomb could be dropped, and Japan did not believe the U.S.  I have mixed feelings about this because I understand that dropping the bomb allowed POWs to be released earlier, which allowed some prisoners to survive.  I struggle with the decision because so many innocent lives were taken.   How much longer would  the war would have continued if it hadn’t been dropped.

 

I think this is a topic that I would bring up in my high school classes.  One reason I would do this is because of current terrorism and wars.  Society is very sensitive and everything is suppose to be politically correct.  Gen’s dad see what others do not want to see because it is easier to “go with the flow” than ask unpopular questions or questions without clear cut answers.  Assimilation is important part of this story because individuals that don’t conform are seen as and treated as traitors.  On page 89, Gen’s dad points out that Japanese soldiers are giving up a lot to support and protect Japan, but at what cost?   The book also points out that the government is paying a small price for the war.  Japan’s people are paying the true cost of the war.  

 

Page 13, shows the wisdom of Gen’s father because he points out the importance of foreign trade and the need for peace.  This is one more reason for people to stop reacting and start thinking for themselves.  We still need to do that.  I plan to ask my students how WW II changed the countries of the world. WW II was devastating for everyone- soldiers, prisoners, and citizens of all countries.  A price was paid by everyone.  Do the world learn from this?   

 

I also plan to ask how history has recorded WW  II?  Does everyone see it the same way?  How can we compare this story to the problems in the Middle East and Africa?  I want to point out that a pancake two sides and so did this war.

4.  I hadn’t noticed the differences in the way the characters were drawn.  I had noticed that the characters did not have slanted eyes.  I figured that this story wanted us to look at the bigger picture and realize that we see and hear what we want to see and hear.  Some people want to fit in so much that they are willing to do anything.  For example, I don’t believe all Nazi’s wanted as many Jews to be killed as what were killed.  Once people started accepting more reality, they had to figure out ways to deal with their own guilt and contribution.  I think the author could have used the different styles to try to point out who the “good guys” and who the “bad guys”  were.   Were the characters that followed the acceptable propaganda considered to be the “good guys”?  Is there room to be both “good” and “bad”?  I thought it was interesting that the boys supported their father, but condemn the Korean neighbor.  We do tend to see what we want to see and what fits into our experiences and normalcy.  I also think it was interesting to have everyone see that the family was “bad” because they were traitors, yet no one was opened minded enough to question the outcome of the war or the government.  Was the war  good for Japan and all of it’s people, or just for the leaders?  

[nike.n...@gmail.com]

I'm not sure if it's just me, but does Gen's teacher look like Hitler?

Question 2: How did the atomic bombs save more lives and shortened the war? I guess I can see how it shortened the war because who would want to go up against a country that can drop that type of bomb on you? I don't know. WW1 lasted for four year and WW2 lasted for six years --not counting the fact that the killings started way before the invasion of Poland. I'll have to touch on both theories with the kids and have them decide for themselves. They'll have to provide evidentiary support for their argument.

Question 7: I grow up in Nigeria so corporal punishment was the norm--it does not involve strip searching students though. I think it depends on what the punishment is. I remember one particular incident when I arrived to school late. The gate made all the late students walked on their knees (unpaved ground) starting from the school entrance to where the morning assemblies are held (about a quarter of a mile). Punishments could range from being whipped with a cane to kneeling outside in the school compound with your hands stretched out carrying heavy books. I don't mind it if teachers discipline their students, but the discipline should not be physical. A teacher almost lost his job when he laid his hands on me.   

[morgan...@gmail.com]

Elizabeth

You bring up an interesting problem for many writers who are writing about their past.  How do you bring up your conclusions in hindsight without breaking the characters or the flow of the story.  Putting words into supporting characters' mouths that are from the author at the time of the writing, not from the actual person, is one way that some authors do this.  If this idea is of interest to you then I would suggest looking at one of Mizuki's Showa books.  He does this by breaking some literary rules.  He creates two versions of himself for his story, the him experiencing the events (the historical him) and the him at the time of the writing of the graphic novel (called Rat Man).  It's a more blatant use of the technique you mention, but perhaps a more honest one too.  Well more honest until Rat Man starts interacting with some of the historical figure.

[morgan...@gmail.com]

Bachpe

Those debates can be very exciting as they do often get kids hooked.  Another couple of debates that could be interesting to consider - 

1. Was the war crimes tribunal unlawful?  One of the judges (I believe the one from India) on the Japanese war criminal panel said that the war crimes tribunals (both Japan's and Germany's) was illegal because they were retroactively applying laws.  The fact that the many of the charges could have been applied to just about any soldier in any army in almost any war was something he brought up too.  

2. Anything about the Nanking Massacre such as why did it happen?  Many of my students are Asian and are very hooked into anything related to asian created events, especially against other asians.  Ironically they don't see the Japanese-Americans' interments as being all that wrong.  I attribute part of that to having been refugees living in camps in similar circumstances and to growing up in a post-9-11 world.  

3. The attack on Pearl Harbor, was it avoidable, was it inevitable, was it caused by America/American policy?  When we started our unit on WWII from Japan's perspective I asked my students why Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the answers were very basic and one-sided.  After we studied things from Japan's point of view most of my students dramatically changed their answers and brought up a lot of great questions/discussions. 

You also make a good point about omission.  There's a long history of this in art.  In the early days of photography when war photographers would take photos of battle fields they were known to reposition bodies for maximum effect.  When people take photos on vacation they position themselves to omit powerlines or things that they feel spoils the photo.  In music, how many times have you heard the old saying - listen to the notes they're not playing?  In poetry especially, but prose too, we tell students to look at word choice.  Word choice isn't simply what word did they select, but what words did they not select.  I think this is always important for everyone to keep in mind with any historical work.  Thanks for bringing that up.

[morgan...@gmail.com]

Nahoward

You bring up that idea of an idyllic/fictional past.  That concept of lets go back to former glory.  How many times have we heard things like that in America?  Political campaigns like "make America great again" or right now there's a commercial running in Minnesota with the catch phrase "make America sober again" (I'm not sure when America was completely sober and not using any drugs, stimulants or alcohol).  When I taught US History I'd always start the year with asking my students if they were familiar with this type of saying.  Of course they were, they often heard it from parents/grandparents as well as media.  So I'd ask them when exactly was this perfect time?  Then if I didn't get any kind of answer I'd run through some of the time periods - When we were exterminating indigenous populations, when women couldn't vote, during slavery, during great depressions, during world wars...  Some of the kids usually got it right away and would start to chuckle at the idea of a utopian past.  This would then usually lead to a discussion of why we study history.  

[morgan...@gmail.com]

MgBlake

That was a wonderful analysis of the pictures and the shading!  I think a reading like that to your class at this point in the book (early but not at the very beginning) would help open the door for many of your students.  I would add one thing to your analysis of the shading.  You mention the water being black as a way of talking about the destructive qualities.  I would say you could bring that a step further.  The sandals which represented salvation for the family (we know a temporary one, but the kids probably didn't see it that way) are all surrounded by white (an often salvation depicting color) and the water being black not just because it is destroying the sandals but because it represents the depth of despair that is engulfing their only salvation.  

I also liked your separation of the parental...discipline from that of the bullying and attacks we see elsewhere in the book.  I think it would be easy to lump them together in a quick reading of the text.  

Thank you for those well developed insights.  

[morgan...@gmail.com]

Aetheredge

Mr. Pak is a great minor character in this book. I think this is a lot of potential for using him and some of those ways are exactly what you mention.  

[morgan...@gmail.com]

Mdzanko

I'm not sure of any detailed articles or works that analyze Nakazawa's works specifically but there's a Harvard professor named Hillary Chute that has done a rather extensive study and analysis of graphic novels.  Some of her works seem to get bogged down at the beginning with historical stuff, but once you get past the history of graphic novels then it gets much more interesting.  I believe she has one book you might want to consider trying to get from a local library called Disaster Drawn.  I have not read it yet, but it looks like what you are asking for.

As to your other question about Japanese humor.  This is a tough one to answer but I will try my best.  How do you state something that covers millions of individuals?  Certainly graphic novels are a bit different than other works at this time, or even real life people.  Having read several graphic novels written around this time I can say with certainty that I am not comfortable stating anything definitely ;)  That said, I have found that humor in Japanese graphic novels is very common, even in autobiographies.  

In the early days of Japanese graphic novels there were book rental libraries for graphic novels and many of these at first were short pieces that might only be a handful of pages assembled into collected works (think of it like if you took had 12 or so comic-book length stand-alone stories by different authors on different topics all assembled together to make one book, so they had to grab the reader quickly.  The magazines of the era were also very popular for showcasing short manga pieces.  For publishers to stay in business they relied heavily on any methods they could to snare readers.  Some works focused on blatantly/illegally copying the hit dramatic or action movies of the era without much humor and certainly these sold well although a common thread is that many of them saw their reader base eventually dry up.  

If you examine the works of some of the prolific writers from this era (Yoshihiro Tatsumi, Shigeru Mizuki, Keiji Nakazawa...) you'll see they all include humor that would likely have been considered over the top back then (and now).  One of the funniest things I've ever come across comes from Mizuki.  He does this amazing historical series called Showa.  In one of these books (I believe the last one) he is breaking the fourth wall and talking to the reader.  In the middle of this conversation he cuts to his baby girl and you see the baby licking the bottom of a sandal.  Mizuki, exasperated, screams to his wife that their daughter is licking the bathroom slippers "again."  Of course not all the humor is as over-the-top as that, you can easily find things that are more subtle.  Tatsumi includes a rather more subtle humor about his obliviousness over the fact that his sister's friend had a huge crush on him (only the sister and Tatsumi were oblivious to this).

So the question becomes about the origin of this humor.  As I said it seems rather common and I think that part of it comes from sales (directly and indirectly).  First publishers needed to sell their books and publishers were scurrying out of the woodwork back then like so many roaches from behind a painting.  Many publishers went out of business because of the saturation.  So publishers needed hooks and humor is a powerful one.  There's also the fact that many of the people who got into graphic novels at that time period were of a younger generation with slightly different values, outlooks and far more impressionable.  Tatsumi for example started well before he graduated from high school.  I would say that we can't dismiss the fact that people wanted uplifting escapes either.  When Japan won their first post-war Olympic gold medal, when they had a professional wrestler "winning" matches over white wrestlers, when Oonoda returned to Japan, these people all received top-hero fanfare.  People were looking for anything to celebrate, anything to show a win, anything to make them feel good.  Even when the economy was improving, life was not easy.  Humor has a long history of filling this need. 

It is also worth pointing out that Japan has a strange dichotomy.  Historically values of stoicism and restraint when out in public are very common.  But expressions of the opposite from outside the person is also common.  For example I was reading a travel blog a few months ago about someone who traveled to Japan and was commenting on seeing ....adult posters and figurines in a storefront (obviously catering to adults who will be less stoic at home) right next to a store that catered to young people with all its bright lights and sounds that assaulted the people on the street.  Both stores attempted to draw attention and stand out in their own ways.  The travel blogger was trying to rectify this with cultural norms like not drinking or eating while you walk, signs that depict not talking loudly into your phone while on the subway and other things that would draw attention to you as a person.  (If you'll excuse the Seinfeld reference) So while authors like Nakazawa might include Cosmo Kramer styles humor in their works, in person they are far more like Patrick Warburton aka Puddy from Seinfeld.  

I'm not sure if this helps you or makes things more confusing.  I would say things are definitely changing in Japan.  Americanization is still happening in Japan and that is seeing stoicism lessening.  Then again we're seeing that here in America too.  Think about what kids are putting out on the internet that would have been unthinkable just one or two generations earlier - things people are saying, doing and images...

[morgan...@gmail.com]

Crennertmay

You bring up an interesting point with the eyes!  This is something I've never noticed before.  Looking back at this pages from this section I see it is very common for the "bad guys" to have the white eyeless-eyes.  After reading INDEH this weekend my mind is running one direction with the term white eyes that probably isn't applicable.  But whenever one of the family is drawn without eyes (which is rare) they are drawn with black eyes as if they are closing their eyes.  For example the cop who beats the father almost never has any eyes, simply the white eyes.  This happens way too often to be a coincidence or unintentional.  I can't speak to other artists of the time period doing this as I've never noticed it before.  

Thank you for bringing this up, I'm going to have to give the implications of this some more thought and I'll have to check some of Nakazawa's contemporaries.  

[morgan...@gmail.com]

Sembasensei

I like the use of the quote here as I think it is extremely apt.  I would say there's another quote/proverb that could also be useful in describing the family in this book.  "A frog in a well knows nothing of the great ocean."  The father is taking all the info to try and piece together a view of the "Great Ocean," (the war and the world) while the people outside the family are the frogs who can't really see.  It might be interesting to use two traditional quotes like these  when teaching this book. 

[morgan...@gmail.com]

Topher

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one whose thoughts occasional drifted towards a Marxist or Feminist lense specifically when reading this.  It is also worth pointing out that after WWII there was a rather strong Communist movement in Japan.  It would later be strongly attacked as you might imagine during the Cold War era.  The author did also have some connections/interactions with members of the Communist Party as one of the publishers for the Barefoot Gen series was part of the Communist Party.  However any effect this might have had on the author is of course speculative, especially since he states that he turned down an offer to join the party.

I think it is interesting that you point out the feet.  I've been trying to find the exact place where Nakazawa talked about the bare feet, but I'm having trouble so I'll have to work from memory (I apologize), Nakazawa has said that he was very intentional with the barefeet.  He wanted the character to be physically touching the Earth because of healing and connecting.  This does not mean that your use of it to support other things isn't also correct.  

Nakazawa has said in various interviews that his father was an artist, but more of a theatrical artist.  So the shoe painting could be something his father really did to try and support the family or it could be a construct by Nakazawa.  Certainly it is interesting that the main character's father makes shoes and the main character does not wear them all that often them in book 1.  

[morgan...@gmail.com]

Donna

The costs of WWII (or any war) on the people versus the hegemony is definitely a valid topic, although I've never heard something like that described as a pancake before :)  

The effects of WWII is undeniably a big question that is worth looking at, one could even spend a lifetime studying it and probably not run out of new material or new insights.  

One effect that hits close to home for some of my students is the world's longest running civil war.  In Burma/Myanmar during WWII the British were losing against the Japanese so as they fled Burma they enlisted the help of the Karen people.  The promise was that the Karen would be given control of the country (or their own country) if they helped the British win.  The Karen would be very effective soldiers against the Japanese, thus causing the Japanese to enlist the Burmese to help fight the Karen.  This was the start of the civil war and the genocide.  When the British relinquished control of Burma after WWII they gave it to the Burmese instead of the Karen people.  The fighting and ethnic cleansing is still going on today making the world's longest running civil war.  Hence the large number of Karen refugees leaving the camps in Thailand and coming to the USA in the last few years.   

There's no shortage of historians who point out that Japan was able to rebound from the war because of the Cold War and the American reliance on Japan during that era.  But the effects of WWII go way beyond Asia.    During the war there is the economic impact (good for the US, bad for most others) and many other topics you could jigsaw with your students.  

So definitely an interesting topic that could incorporate a lot of different sources.  One graphic novel you might want to look up (if you can find it at a library or a used copy is Notes for a War Story by Gipi.  It is fairly short but I think it covers that topic you mentioned about the effects of a war on the people in a  very strong way.

[morgan...@gmail.com]

Nike

Yes the teacher does resemble Hitler, although he is not the only one in the book to sport the mini mustache.  Gen's older brother works a manufacturing job (we'll see this later) and his boss, who seems fairly nice, is also sporting the same facial hair.  This is exactly the kind of comment many students would bring up when they see the teacher so thank you for bringing it up.  The question becomes did he really look like Hitler, or did the author draw him like that for the reader?  I think either answer is plausible  

Thank you for bringing up the punishment experiences.  It can be difficult for many people, especially our students, to understand that punishments and humiliation have been common around the world.  I think you are correct in pointing out the nudity is NOT a common thing.  I believe that any country in the 1940s would have seen that as being over the line, especially towards a young lady.  (Although my father has told me that when he was in middle school, well after WWII, he was in an all boys swimming class and they were required to swim naked.  Before they were allowed in the pool, or if they were being punished, they would have to stand shoulder to shoulder before the teacher.)  Going back to the naked young lady in the story, I think we even see the teachers involved in this feeling uncomfortable when they are confronted with it because they know they crossed the line.  However the goal was to shame and punish the kids for their father's beliefs and I think we can all agree that the teachers were doing just that to the daughter.  

[Geoffrey Smith]

8: I do teach at a school with a religious affiliation (specifically, Episcopal).  I am not sure if I would make a reference to Jesus’ teaching in John, “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”  Frankly, I did not catch it.  I wonder whether my students will bring it up.  How intentional is this reference?  Is Nakazawa a Christian (or convert)?

11: The good guys (Gen and his family) are depicted in more “Western” ways, while the bad guys (the bullies) are depicted in more racialized, militant, “Eastern” ways (with buck teeth, slanted eyes, military caps, etc.).  These differences convey a dichotomous message: Western (physical, ideological) traits are associated with pacifism, while (exaggerated, stereotypical) Eastern traits are associated with aggressive behavior, whether among children (bullying) or by implication among adults (aggressive nationalism).  It is curious how Nakazawa uses these techniques, which are especially evident on page 22, box 4; he effectively “borrows” anti-Japanese propaganda techniques and applies them to his own Japanese “enemies.”  Nakazawa thus envisions himself and his family as “the other,” a Europeanized or an Americanized “other.”

[morgan...@gmail.com]

Geoffrey

I'm not sure what faith, if any, Nakazawa belongs to.  The throwing of rocks was a fairly common thing by Japanese children of the era (and presumably by many others around the world).  I just found the scene of a man who is preaching an end to the violence who is persecuted and the stone throwing to be something that students at a religious school might pick up on.  Although never having taught at a religious school I am only attempting a guess.  I would be curious to know if you find anything along those lines that you think your kids would pull out or connect.  

[mgbl...@gmail.com]

Glasier--

I agree with you that the viewing of Barefoot Gen video can have an emotional impact on students, particularly, since the exposure of the effects of the atomic bomb on human beings is a late 20th century experience. Many facts about the atomic bomb were unknown, or pushed to a secret sphere of scientific inquiry and speculations. Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War by Susan Southard talks about the above.  I am concerned, usually, when having to introduce stories about the WWII in my classroom.