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Daysi Rosales
Professor Corri Ditch

English 115

27 November 2019

It is Possible to Prosper After Suffering

In the years of 1942-1946, after the attack of Japanese against Pearl Harbor, the United

States of America declared that people with a Japanese heritage background were considered an

enemy to the country. They were forcefully gathered up onto trains and brought into internment

camps where they lived in horrible conditions. The graphic novel written by George Takei,

“They Called Us Enemy”, states how he and his family endured the hardships that existed for

Japanese during this time in history. The articles “What Suffering Does” by David Brooks and

“The Alchemy of Suffering” by Matthieu Ricard both talk about how one suffers but can gain a

sense of peace through one's practice. Although they both talk about suffering and how it turns

into a sense of peace and good, Brooks states the idea that states that experiencing suffering can

lead you to transform your perspective on the situation leading you to recognize happiness.

Meanwhile Ricard talks about there being “an alchemy of suffering”, through one’s practice to

gain peace. George Takei went through the physical and emotional suffering that brought him to

know what to really value in life, what to call happiness, and how one person could change to be

the better one desires to see in this world. Takei is now an activist and a leader to his people,

helping them and motivating them in any way possible. Telling his story to inspire and motivate

young people, he now advocates for communities that are being unfairly treated by others, like

the LGBTQ+ community and more.

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George Takei along with his family experience living in inhumane conditions that shaped

his perspective in the way he acts and is towards other people in a positive way. Takei is now an

activist and a leader to his people, helping them and motivating them in any way possible.

Telling his story to inspire and motivate young people, he now advocates for communities that

are being unfairly treated by others, like the LGBTQ+ community and more. The Japanese

internment camps gave people with a Japanese heritage background such an awful experience

they did not deserve. The graphic novel by George Takei is dedicated to giving a piece of

personal history out to the world. Throughout the novel, Takei explains the different emotional

tolls his family took. Takei starts off the novel by dedicating it to his parents “In memory of

Daddy and Mama, for their undying love and life guidance”(Takei, 4). In the novel Takei states

“That golden afternoon when daddy took the famoly on that wonderful jeep ride...is a fond

memory that glows radiantly with warmth” (100), decribing the day their father asked to take

his family to see the world outside the fence. Permission was only granted to him because he was

block manager in the internment camp, which came with a few rare perks. After reading the

novel it is clear to see how his parents’ love was undying and how their actions were guiding

because of the sacrifices they made in order to prevent their kids from suffering or knowing what

exactly was going on. They tried to maintain their kids safe and happy. Although they tried

hiding it, what was going on in the camps and the injustice being made was soon clear to Takei.

This suffering brought Takei to be conscious of the situation and know that he wanted to do

better for his family and his people. “Our parents did what they could to protect us from the

unsanitary conditions…she had selflessly stuffed her limited luggage with special treats for us.”

(Takei 49), shows how his mother had thought ahead and brought what the kids would need

instead of her belongings. According to Brooks happiness depends on your perspective on the
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situation. Takei’s parents made sure that the kids’ perspective on the situation stayed positive

and fun, an adventure. After all the sacrifices his family took to keep their family together they

felt whole, that was their sense of happiness. Takei states “My mother made the bold decision to

renounce her citizenship.”(Takei, 154) Explaining how his family was about to be separated

when they were taking citizens away from non-citizens, his mother renouncing her citizenship

meant she was able to stay with her family. For his mother and his family, it was a sort of

happiness that they were together, they sacrificed everything in order to stay together through the

hardships, turning this into a motivation to better himself and to benefit his community in the

future.

Takei turns his experience into a source of motivation that brings him to be a leader, this

of which relates to “The Alchemy of Suffering” by Matthieu Ricard, who issues the idea of

happiness coming through the sense of peace one gains by finding what is their sort of practice to

gain peace and practicing it. In a passage of Ricard’s article it states that after a series of drafts

and writings, the king’s friend came to a result and stated that “...they suffer at every moment

and throughout the world.” (35), referring to all humans and finding out that suffering is

inevitable. Connecting to Takei’s graphic novel and how suffering is inevitable for any human

being, while in the internment camps Japanese people experienced losing their family members

after the attack on Hiroshima. Throughout history, it has been shown that suffering is an emotion

that one has to experience sooner or later. Richard states “...suffering will always exist as a

universal phenomenon, but every individual has the potential for liberation from it.” (37)

Explaining that everyone is bound to suffer but there is a way that one could find peace after

suffering. Ricard’s has a point in saying that peace comes through family, church, union, and

simply people supporting you along the way. In “They Call Us Enemy”, it is through the unity of
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the family they kept happy. After all the suffering and tragedies Takei was transformed into a

man who was not materialistic but who valued family and saw it as his happiness when

compared to materialistic items such as a house or commodities. He learned how to be a leader to

Japanese people that went through the same situation and how to push others forward with a

positive mindset. In the book it states “Takei has been a passionate advocate for social justice,

...supporter of human rights...and community activist.” (206), explaining how through the

suffering he found a way to view the situation differently and speak up.

In the internment camps, George Takei had to suffer which brought him to be a leader for

those in need, therefore relating to the article “What Suffering Does” by David Brooks. The

article states that happiness comes through the experience of suffering and how one perceives it.

The way one sees the situation could change how they will experience the situation negatively or

positively. Brooks states “Difficulty and suffering sends you on a different course” (284) issuing

that when one person suffers it brings you to know the worst of you. In the internment camps

kids such as the one who got Takei into saying something foul to the guards learned how to have

fun through the troubles of others. Meanwhile, Takei and his siblings had the example of their

own parents that although they were suffering, they learned how to push through and be

hardworking to get the most of their situation. Suffering can in a way destroy you in order to

rebuild you in a different more peaceful way. David Brooks explains that to know and have that

sense of happiness one has to first know and experience what suffering is. Brooks and Takei both

inspire the idea of happiness being formed through suffering because after being in the

internment camps Takei came out a young man who knew better to value and be happy about

family no matter what their situation was. He learned that having those you are the most close to

is better than having materialistic objects and being alone. George Takei did not heal to come out
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the same but he came out with a different perspective, for he became an activist who values so

much more than materialistic items in his life after suffering throughout his childhood, but has

happiness through his people.

Unlike George Takei not everyone is changed through suffering in a positive way. In the

internment camps, everyone has their own way of getting their minds off the situation. His

mother sewed, his father helped the community and the kids played. The article “The Trauma of

Internment” by Renee Romano explains the story of Alice, a Japanese American girl who went

through the same thing George Takei did. After seeing Latino families being separated at the

borders and kids being held in detention centers she stated: “she saw echoes of her own story,

one that has traumatized her since she was a teenager separated from her family at the hands of

the U.S. government.” (paragraph 1) Even after being out of the camp this person still was

suffering and recalling memories in a negative way not being able to let go of the memory.

Connecting to “Why There's Pain in Happiness” by Meg Selig, she explains “Pain is inevitable.

Suffering is optional.” (paragraph 4) This is referring to the fact that one decides what they want

to do and how they want to perceive the situation. The article by Renee Romano explains the

difficulty there is in a person after the experience of being in camps. They suffer so much but

have to push on with their lives trying to be happy and just can’t when they see the same thing

happening to other communities. Although these experiences could be life changing, it is

possible to change for the better. Selig explains suffering being optional and Takei proves that

after all the suffering the best one can do is help out other communities. Takei was transformed,

changed to become leader, mentor, but most importantly the change he wants to see after going

through such awful events.

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Happiness is not a given, it is something that you will experience after suffering, or at

least what you make out of yourself and how you want to perceive the situation. After being

months in internment camps, George Takei realized the awful situations in which he and his

family were exposed to. Acknowledging that the treatment was cruel, he knew better than to not

speak out for others and make the best out of himself once he grew up. It is said that one first has

to suffer in order to know what happiness feels like. David Brooks explains how one does not

come out healed from the suffering but comes out changed.When George Takei went into camp

not being aware of what was going on and as the years went by he grew up to realize it was not

right and that he wanted to be different, that was the lesson he took out of his experience. Takei

became a leader not only to his people but to all communities. George Takei gained the plasticity

trait that allowed him to overcome such tragic events and bring positive outcomes out of it. He

now stands among us fighting for justice for all communities in need of equality and

righteousness.
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Work Cited

Brooks, David. "What Suffering Does." a Bedford Spotlight Reader, edited by Matthew Parfitt

and Dawn Skorczewski Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016 pp.284-287.

Ricard, Matthieu “The Alchemy of Suffering” Pursuing Happiness, a Bedford Spotlight Reader,

edited by Matthew Parfitt and Dawn Skorczewski Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016 pp 34-42

Selig, Meg. “Why There’s Pain in Happiness”. Psychologytoday, 20 June 2013.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/changepower/201306/why-theres-pain-in-happiness

Romano, Renee. "The Trauma of Internment." Washingtonpost, 25 June 2018. Gale In Context:

Opposing Viewpoints,

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A544362059/OVIC?u=csunorthridge&sid=OVIC&xid=1a3db6d

6. Accessed 3 Nov. 2019

Takei, George/ Eisinger, Justin/ Scott, Steven/ Becker, Harmony (ILT), George. They Called Us

Enemy. Random House Inc. 2019