The novel “When the Emperor Was Divine” is about a Japanese family who were sent to an internment camp based on propagandized information. Otsuka described what happened to those who were Japanese during World War II and how it affected many Japanese Americans. In “When the Emperor Was Divine,” the characters, the woman, the boy and the girl, all had a positive character. This woman was a strong mother who handled things on her own. The girl and boy were Japanese-American and did things that normal Americans do. However, during World War II, many factors changed based on stereotypes. The characters once saw themselves as strong Americans, but the stereotypes of the Japanese as they were in the internment camp made the characters weakened, saw themselves as enemies, and were confused. the fact that the characters were Japanese. Characters who were once strong have become weaker physically and emotionally. The boy was an average American, spoke American, did everything like an American. During World War II, he and his family were sent to the internment camp without a clue. Obviously this made no sense to him, he was "worried about being there because he had done something horribly wrong" (57). The boy didn't know why they had to go to camp. The boy thinking about why he was there led him to think negatively. His mind was filled with questions, why, which worried him more and more. Worrying doesn't get stronger and stronger but weaker and weaker because your mind has all the possible answers and yet you don't know the right answer. The boy was American, he spoke English and not Japanese. This made him think that he might have done bad things even if he didn't know it, he might have a low opinion of himself. The...... middle of paper ...... hey, I spent time in the camp because of their identity, everything about them is very close to the Japanese and they want to get rid of it. Their desperation to change their name shows that they wanted to change their name so that internment would no longer happen to them. They wanted to be American, they didn't want to be mistreated and besides going to the camp for nothing, they did it because they were Japanese. Being Japanese was not a good thing during World War II. The book “When the Emperor Was Divine” shows the Japanese point of view and shows how detrimental the internment camp was. The characters faced unpleasant situations because of who they were after camp. Being yourself was one thing but changing yourself is another. From strong to weak or happy to sad, it was in all of them. Camp changed the characters in every way possible.