When the Emperor Was Divine #3

The animals in this story play a significant role in the lives of the family and have a lot of meaning behind their presence.  The white dog in the beginning let the reader know that the Japanese relocation was a very large part of the lives of the three main characters and showed how their possessions would not necessarily belong to them when they got back.  The woman killed white dog because she knew that the dog would live a very poor lifestyle for the remainder of his life, and wanted to put him out of his misery.  The dog and the pet bird that was set free represent the sacrifices the family had to make due to the law that was enacted.  The act of killing white dog also revealed the nature of the mother and how she was very stoic and in a state of some sort of lost hope.  A short while after she had already performed the deed her son was calling the dog's name and she did not respond.  The author said, "She was cutting apples."  The woman showed no sign of any emotion and just continued to prepare for the move.  The reoccurring theme of horses throughout the novel have a different meaning to the characters.  The horses mainly play a role in the boy's life and not so much in the lives of his mother and sister.  Since the boy was younger, when they lived in the horse stables, he had a distinct fascination in them and seemed as though he even had some sort of bond with them.  On the train the boy really wanted to see wild horses running around freely and untamed.  "He watched the horses as they galloped toward the mountains and he said very softly, 'They are going away.'"  His reaction to seeing the horses was one of awe and inspiration.  The boy almost wanted to be like the horses where he could be free and not have to be told where to go and where to live.  The horses also symbolize how the Japanese were treated like animals in the way that they were held in captivity like the horses in the stables, because they themselves had to live in horse stables.  The turtle in the book was another animal the boy could relate to.  They were both forced to live in some sort of a box and were dependent on somebody else in order to live.  The turtle was neglected by the boy and was forgotten to the point to where it died because it had not been fed enough.  The boy and the other Japanese people at the camp were also neglected by the Americans and treated below reasonable standards.  Everyone at the camp was just like the turtle in the box only they were remembered enough to be fed.