Cindy Vargas Professor Ditch English 115 22 October 2019 : A \ ransformation ‘The Effects of Throughout life, we experience suffering and happiness. We enioy the good times but then we also go through the tough times. People use this suffering nd transform into motivation to continue to live their best life. People relate to this every day but, in the graphic novel, They Called Us Enemy, George Takei explains how he underwent that pain but transformed it. This story takes place during the time of Executive Order 9066 took effect after Pearl Harbor. This order stated that all Japanese immigrants and Americans of Japanese descent in the U.S. were to be sent to internment camps. Takei explains his time in the internment camps, the challenges that his parents and himself faced because of this action, and his life after the war and how he was deeply affected by it. George Takei is formed through his suffering because he used it to drive him to become influential to others, determined to become better and make a difference, and to, show his resilience. -ause it changes their perspective on how they Suffering has different effects on people view everything. In the article, “What Suffering Does” by David Brooks, he states that “recovering from suffering is not like recovering from a disease. Many people don't come out healed: they come out different” (287). They now lve a different perspective on the world and/ how they view people because they understand more about challenges. In They Called us Enemy, - after Takei received news of him playing the role of Lieutenant Hikaru in a new hit series, Star ‘Trek, he viewed it as an opportunity to represent his heritage with honor to millions of people.Vargas2 This also gave him the platform “from which to address many social causes that needs attention” (Takei 189). This platform aided him in his pursuit to become not what they perceived him to be / but someone better. Takei and his family were imprisoned in the internment camps. His time there that it changed how he saw things and wanted to do something to change it. He used his platform to do that and become an activist for Asian Americans. His activism and influence are just one example of how he was formed by his suffering. ‘ In life, we experience visible, hidden, and invisible suffering. We all have different experiences, and these go to show what we do about this pain we live with. In Matthieu Ricard’, }.(\__ article, “The Alchemy of Suffering” he states that hidden suffering “may potentially arise at any ‘moment in life, but it remains hidden to those who are taken in by the illusion of appearances and cling to the belief that people and things last”"(36). Takei’s father was experiencing this type of suffering because he was hiding his pain from his son. At the office that Takei would work in with helping a political campaign, his father would hear that Eleanor Roosevelt was coming, he \\ would smile and tell Takei that he wasn’t feeling well. He was covering up his hurt by smiling and telling his son lies because he knew how happy he was to meet her, and he never wanted to ruin that moment. In reality, Takei’s father did not want to see the wife of the man who / imprisoned his family (Takei 182). Takei realized this and understood what his father was feeling. His eyes opened to many things that happened in the camps and now he knew everything his mother and father did to make them happy even though they were forced to be somewhere they did not want to be. He was determined to make a change in this world for his family so they would not have to endure pain any longer. His actions and persistence formed him to be the / person he is today and allowed him to achieve everything he has accomplished, He went on to become someone who people would admire and look up to.Vargas 3 Many people experienced living in those internment camps. Some people had a harder time in there than others because some people did not want to cooperate with what they were telling to do, In an article, “Diary Paints life as an Internee” by Patricia Leigh Brown, she speaks about an exhibit about the Japanese Internment camps stating, “The exhibition focuses on the resilience and creativity that helped many detainees survive the forced removal from their homes and jobs and the harsh conditions in remote camps that were ringed by sentry towers with armed guards.” Being taken from their home to somewhere they have never been before and being § forced to lived there was traumatic. They went from living one day freely to being forced to) leave their homes, all because of their race, they were portrayed as the enemy. This event was ‘very traumatic and will live with them for the rest of their lives. They all suffered in the camps, but it felt more like a prison because of the guards and the fence surrounding them. The people in these camps joined together and made the best out of their situation, They tried to make it better for the kids that were there. This made them become resilient because although they were scared and feared that they will never return home, they all came together and united. They would not be teared down. Takei became resilient because he was a kid when they were put in these camps and did not understand the actual situation. He grew up and later experienced the looks and things people would say because of his race. He wanted to do research on what actually happened during the time of Executive order 9066, He understood now that he lived through a tough time, he was resilient and used this resilience to show that it will not bring him down. To show his resilience, he starred in a musical called Fly Blackbird, which shined light on political and social injustices. Since he experienced firsthand a political injustice, he knew this play was just one way he could show he will not be teared down, He was determined to prove that people’s actions effect everyone greatly and that we are so quick to judge.Vargas 4 7 During the time in the camps, many families were holding on to anything that showed them not to lose hope, but they tried to make it an environment good for the kids. In some camps, they even had classrooms for children so they could continue to learn. In the article, “School quality and educational attainment: Japanese American internment as a natural experiment” by Martin Saavedra, he describes what edueation was like in the camps and states, “The lack of adequate schools within the camps inevitably affected the schoolchildren's attitude towards education and possibly steered them to careers that did not require as much education.” Because } ofthe lack of materials and resoures they ha in camps these chilren were not given a proper, education which could affect their education and skills in the future. At certain ages learning is very important because they can grow up to not have certain skills like writing. Takei was @ a young boy when he was in the camps and he was at the age where learning is crucial but . although he lived through this poor situation, he was still determined to be a good student. After | being released from the internment camps, people tried so hard to go back to what their life was like before Pearl Harbor. Takei’s family moved back to Los Angeles and he began to go to } school again. After iscovering the reality of their time in the camps, he became aware that, people did not think he would succeed, but he proved them wrong. He then went on to attend UCLA. He was limited to certain things, but this did not stop him, he perceived to do the best he can as a person. He became involved in acting in one of the most famous movies, Star Trek, he ; ‘was involved in politics by helping a political candidate with his campaign, He was involved more in his community then what most people do, Nothing limited him. ‘Some might argue that Takei was just like any other person who lived through the traumatic event of Executive Order 9066. He experienced what everyone who were at those ‘camps lived through and that everyone deals with trauma in different ways, but you can sce thatVargas 5 he used his trauma in a more effective way that allowed him to be formed by his suffering. He used it to become a voice for Asian Americans and told his story so that our country will be reminded of mistake that cannot be erased. Takei wasn’t just like anyone else; he viewed his story as something more. He viewed it as passage to something bigger. He began to have an impact on society. Some people just view things differently and start doing things differently, but he showed people that we can start doing things in society. These people were shown how fast the world turned on them for something they did not do and were labeled as “the enemy”. They did not let that label stop them from living their life in faet it encouraged them to be better than, the people who did it to them in the first place, Suffering takes people and changes them in ways that are uncertain. Their perspective changes and they see everything from a different point of view. George Takei saw everything from a new perspective and saw that the world needs change. He used that suffering that he lived with and transformed it in a way that he became an influential person for those who lived through the same thing and an advocate for Asian Americans in general. He told his story and explained his perspective on how he saw things as a kid compared to how he saw them when he grew up. He accomplished his goals and had a good career showing that he was determined to ived him to be and show that he was resilient, show people that he was more than what they pet People suffer and go through tough times throughout their whole lives, but this suffering has a teat effect on how they are as a person. These people didn’t want to be what people though they were, they were not the enemy, they were like every other person. They lived in the same world. ‘These were tough times, and everyone goes through those, but this was something that was brought upon them. These people will never forget what happened this will stay with forever, but they will use it as motivation to live on to find happiness,Vargas 6 Works Cited Brooks, David. “What suffering Does”. Pursuing Happiness: A Bedford Spotlight Reader. Edited by Matthew Parfitt and Dawn Skorezewski. Bedford/St. Martin's, 2016, pp. 284-287. Brown, Patricia Leigh. “Diary Paints Life as an Interne.” The New York Times, 2015, p. C1 Ricard, Matthieu. “The Alchemy of Suffering”. Pursuing Happiness: A Bedford Spotlight Reader. Edited by Matthew Parfitt and Dawn Skorezewski. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016, pp. 34-42. Saavedra, Martin. “School Quality and Educational Attainment: Japanese American Internment as a Natural Experiment.” Explorations in Economic History, vol. 7, 2015, pp. 59-78. s, 2019. Takei, George. They Called Us Enemy. 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