Abstract
This paper explains that, on its surface, John Okada's "No-No Boy" explores the relations between Japanese and white Americans, with an emphasis on Japanese-America's self-perceptions. More specifically, one of the main themes of the novel involves free will and determinism. The author points out that the world that Okada describes is certainly an ugly one that is full of hostility between and among races; however, one gets a sense that he maintains faith in humanity. The paper relates that the novel begs to question whether the story's characters are responsible for their own attitudes and conduct or if they are powerless victims of social circumstance.

From the Paper
"Ichiro's initial reluctance to engage in the fight with Bull along side Freddie also serves to show a point. When asked to stay out of the fight by another bar patron, Ichiro answers, "I haven't got much choice" (246). By offering this statement, he seems to imply that he has no free will when it comes to if he should join in the fight. He has no choice because to put himself in front of Bull will mean that he would be in harms way. This seems to echo his reason for not fighting in the war. In the war against Freddie however, Ichiro knows that the choice he wants to make isn't the most beneficial towards the situation. He wouldn't have anticipated that he could manage to take on an opponent like Bull, but it attempting so he surprises himself."

Tags:self-perception, race, hostility, responsibility

Abstract
Analysis of John Okada's novel. Discusses the protagonist's refusal to serve in the U.S. Armed Forces after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Internment of Ishiro and his family in California's interment camps of World War II. Consequences of his refusal. Conflict between his Japanese familial heritage and his own acculturation to the U.S.

From the Paper
"Ideology and Action: The Case of No-No Boy

John Okada s story of a young Japanese-American boy s struggle to survive the infamous internment camps of the World War II era and to subsequently become reintegrated into American society speaks to one of this nation s most humiliating episodes. Ichiro, the no-no boy of the novel s title, refuses conscription into the American Armed Forces after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and is interned with his family in a California camp. He refuses to take the loyalty oath to the United States, and in his own words, therefore ruined my life for you, for Ma, for Japan" (Okada, p. 115).

In other words, the protagonist of this story finds himself trapped between his Japanese familial heritage and his own acculturation to the United States. The argument that is advanced by ..."

Abstract
The immigrant experience is addressed in two novels, No-No Boy by John Okada and Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia, and in each case the relationship between the immigrant and his or her homeland as well as the new country to which the immigrant has come. The degree of assimilation is partly related to issues of generation, with first-generation immigrants having more difficultly than younger ones

From the Paper
"The immigrant experience is addressed in two novels, No-No Boy by John Okada and Dreaming in Cuban by Cristina Garcia, and in each case the relationship between the immigrant and his or her homeland as well as the new country to which the immigrant has come. The degree of assimilation is partly related to issues of generation, with first-generation immigrants having more difficultly than younger ones.
The novel No-No Boy by John Okada recounts aspects of the immigrant experience in America though the experience of its main character, and the author shows an understanding of the historical forces that helped shape that character in his place and time. The main character is beset both by a sense of loss of the parent culture and tensions within the adopted culture to which he has become acculturated. Okada evokes issues of ..."

From the Paper
"One of the major issues explored in John Okada's novel No-No Boy is the issue of free will. In general, the novel examines relations between Japanese-Americans and white Americans, and focuses especially on the image that Japanese-Americans have of themselves. The question of free will involves inevitably the question of its opposite---determinism. Are the characters in this novel free to change their attitudes and their behavior, or are they helpless victims of environmental, psychological, racial and other circumstances? Clearly, Okada is a writer who holds out hope that racial hatred and self-hatred can be reduced, if not eliminated. For him to hold out such hope, he must have some faith and some evidence that human beings are capable of making free choices which will lead to such change. At the same time, the novel is full of realistic scenes of hatred and self-hatred..."

Abstract
This paper reviews and discusses John Okada's novel, 'No-no Boy'. According to the paper, 'No-no Boy' tells about the life of Japanese-Americans in America after the World War II. The paper reports that the title 'No-no boy' refers to the main character, Ichiro, as well as to the other Japanese-Americans, who chose not to join the American army. The paper discusses how they chose not to be manipulated by the Americans who betrayed the Japanese race.

From the Paper
"The race of Ichiro, being a Japanese, and his citizenship as an American place him in a suffering where he is unable to choose which among the two will he make as a dominating identity of himself. Added to this predicament in his search for identity is the strong nationalism of his mother who fervently embodies the Japanese culture, tradition, and nationality. Because of this, a clash emerged between Ichiro and his mother."

Tags:loyalty, asian, army, racial, discrimination, okada, japanese, human, rights

Abstract
This paper explains that "No-No Boy" is a historical, fiction novel by John Okada and is primarily based on the real-life events directly affected by the plight of Japanese-Americans in the immediate aftermath of WWII. It shows how Okada's novel has characters and a plot that are fictional; however, the unveiling truth behind its historical context provides readers with a multidimensional observation over a complexity of issues.

From the Paper
"Okada's novel delivers a poignant reflection on the relations between Japanese-Americans and white Americans, and focuses especially on the image that Japanese-Americans have of themselves. Okada discovered many complexities behind writing his novel, complexities that could not be explained by Anne Moody or a historian such as Ronald Takaki. The image that Japanese Americans have of themselves challenges issues of free will, which portray even bigger issues of self-hatred and self-perception. Although free will was undoubtedly a major theme in Moody's Coming of Age in Mississippi, it missed the essence of pain and suffering. The world that Okada describes is certainly an ugly one that's full of hostility between and amongst races similar to the one described by Moody; however, one gets a sense that he maintains faith in humanity. This faith empowers the reader to feel the pain endured by Japanese Americans at this time."

Tags:1940s, americans, fiction, historical, japanese, racism, states, united, wwii

Abstract
The paper explains how the protagonist in John Okada's "No-No Boy", Ichiro, loses his natural right to a legitimate heritage with the U.S. Executive Order #9066 and his refusal to take up arms against Japanese of his own ancestry. The paper demonstrates how it is now impossible for Ichiro to belong to any culture, since he is an outcast even among his own cultural brethren. The paper therefore shows why Ichiro chose to end his life.

From the Paper
"US Executive Order #9066 was - on the surface - a cold, bureaucratic pronouncement. And yet the reality of the order stabbed deeply into the lives of 12,000 incarcerated Japanese Americans like the white-hot blade of a newly forged knife. And moreover, the youthful individuals of Japanese descent who said "No" on questions 27 and 28 on the Selective Service questionnaire - as did Ichiro Yamada - found themselves first in prison and secondly drifting in a cultural vacuum where identity was illusive and hatefulness dominated the air they breathed."

Tags:Pearl, Harbor, Asian, Americans, traitor, outcast, bigotry, heritage

Abstract
In this article, the writer notes that on February 19, 1942, following the bombing of Pearl Harbor by Japanese troops, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, setting into motion the mass internment of over 110,000 Japanese-Americans in camps throughout the continental U.S. without trial or charge. Long the victims of racial discrimination, these Japanese-Americans found themselves the targets of an entire nation's hostilities during the war. The writer points out that this act of mass exclusion by the United States prompted very different reactions among the Japanese-American community, key examples of which are found in Monica Sone's 'Nisei Daughter' and John Okada's 'No-no Boy'. The writer discusses that these books, written in the 1950s, after the Japanese internment had ended, present two diametrically opposite responses to the internment of Japanese-American citizens, and explore the newly emerging relationship between Japanese-Americans and the United States in the post-war era.

From the Paper
"Continuing where Nisei Daughter left off, but diverging sharply in its portrayal of the Japanese-American experience in the United States, No-No Boy traces the attempts made by Ichiro Yamada, a Japanese American internee who declined to serve in the U.S. army, and the novels central character, to integrate into American society following his internment and consequential imprisonment. The book explores the failure of Japanese American integration in the racially charged aftermath of the Second World War, and is unique in that it develops almost exclusively within the confines of Japanese American culture, where discrimination manifests itself even within the same race."

Tags:internment, camps, patriotism, identity, integration

Abstract
This paper reviews three pieces of Asian-American literature, analyzing the portrayal of gender in these novels. The three works the paper reviews are John Okada's 'No No Boy', Jhumpa Lahiri's 'The Namesake' and Nina Revoyr's 'Southland'. The paper discusses how these books do much to provide information on the Asian-American ethnic identity but, as with any other fiction, they present the authors' subjective points of view and readers must be alert to their ethnic authenticity and transnational analytic limitations.

From the Paper
"On the one hand Ma rejects western culture for herself and her children, but Ichiro is still drawn by American culture and disregards most of Ma's nationalistic beliefs. She is unwilling to accept his rejection and pretends it is due to his illness: "We will talk later when you are feeling better... Think more deeply and your doubts will disappear. You are my son, Ichiro" (Okada 15). Ichiro sees that "Ma is the rock that's always hammering, pounding, pounding, pounding in her unobtrusive, determined, fanatical way until there's nothing left to call one's self. She's cursed me with her meanness and the hatred that you cannot see but which is always hating..."(Okada 12). Yet, on the other hand, Mr. and Mrs. Yamada came to the U.S. to give their sons the opportunity to have an American education "which would make them better men in Japan" (205). "

Tags:genre, multicultural, sexual, orientation, nationality, stereotype

Abstract
This paper attempts to construct a definition of an Asian-American writer through the common themes in their literary works. Several examples of Asian-American novels are presented and analyzed for their shared themes such as alienation and family. These works include Eric Liu's "The Accidental Asian," "The Interpreter" by Suki Kim and "No-No Boy," by John Okada. The author concludes that the themes of self-doubt and estrangement make reading 'Asian-American' literature an enriching, complex experience.

From the Paper
"This theme of internal estrangement becomes a metaphorical plot device in The Interpreter by Suki Kim. The protagonist of the novel has two murdered parents. The young woman is a both a literal and figurative orphan of her home, her original Korean culture, and cast adrift in America. If she can find their murderers, Suzy hopes, she will gain a sense of identity and a greater affinity with her national past. However, her pursuit of justice only drives her deeper into psychological turmoil and a sense of displacement, as she seeks her parent's murderers in vain in the Korean-American underworld of New York City."

Tags:Asian-Americans, literature, immigrant, experience, Suki, Kim, Eric, Liu, Jon, Okada