No-No Boy, Chapters 1-4 by John Okada

From Joanne

1) Identify and briefly define important words, terms, concepts, or character's?

The characters in the story No-No boy are: Ichiro, Mr & Mrs. Yamata, Taro, Mr and Mrs. Kumasakas, Kenjii. Ichiro is the main character in the novel. He has just returned from two years in camp and two years in prison. He returns finding his family and old friends believing that the war was still on going. Mr Mrs Yamata are Ichiros parennts and have hopes of returning to japan. Their original plan was to “come to make money, and go back and buy a piece of land and be comfortable”. Taro, Ichiro’s brother, plans on dropping out of school and joining the army. He doesn’t connect with anyone in his family because he is Americanized and his family is not. Mr. and Mrs. Kumasakas had a son in the army but was killed. Kenji is an old friend of Ichiros. That was a veteran of the army of America and had his leg amputated . He constantly speaks of “eleven inches” which refers to how much time he has to live.


2) Summarize the main idea, theme, action, or event of the reading. Be sure to Include quotation that best captures the overall feeling or mood of the reading.

“He hated his brother and also his parents because they had created the thing with their eyes and hands and minds which had seen and felt thought as Japanese for thirty-five years in America which they rejected as thoroughly as if they had never been a day away from Japan. That was the reason and it was difficult to believe, but it was true because he was the emptiness between the one and the other and could see flashes of the truth that was true for his parents and the truth that was true for his brother” (pg 19). This explains the overall feeling of the novel. In the family, there’s a lot of anger because of Ichiro’s absence. After Ichiro came back, everyone would blame each other for the way everything has happened in their life. “Nobody’s going to Japan. The war is over. Japan lost. Do you hear? Japan lost.”(pg 13) This is when Ichiro tries to explain to his parents that the war has been over but they don’t believe so.

3) Formulate a question for discussion. the question should be relatively substantial, based upon a specified passage or scene from the text, and capable of sustaining a thoughtful discussion.

What is No-No boy and how does it affect ones life?