Patriotism and Okada's No Boy the Current

Patriotism and Okada's No Boy The current war in Iraq has brought out displays of patriotic fervor throughout the country. People proudly display the American flag on their homes and cars. Even Major League Baseball has replaced the traditional seventh inning song "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" with a stirring rendition of "God Bless America." However, for the people protesting the war, these surface displays are an inadequate indicator of patriotism.

Though currently in the minority, the protesters locate their patriotism in speaking out against the war and in shielding their country from the winds of war. Though both camps differ in their definitions of patriotism, they both share an important concept. The Webster Dictionary defines patriotism as "love or devotion to one's country." Despite their difference in views, both protesters and those who support the war in Iraq are motivated by a strong devotion to the interests of the United States.

It is thus interesting to note how this common definition gives rise to completely opposite views. For many protesters, there is no more patriotic act than agitating for peace. There is nothing inherently unpatriotic about taking a stand against the president's wrong decisions. Most of them also do not necessarily label those who support the war as unpatriotic. Those who support the war, in particular, are more prone to this polarity.

For many of them, protesters "do not support the troops" or "do not support the president." The actions of the protesters unwittingly hurt the country's interests. As such, the protesters actions are decidedly unpatriotic. Furthermore, many of the flag-waving war supporters maintain they have the dictionary on their side. After all, in addition to love of country, the Oxford English Dictionary defines a patriot as "someone who is prepared to defend" their country as well. The opposing viewpoints are an indication of the inadequacy of dictionary definitions of complex concepts.

After all, definitions are not static. Concepts like "patriotism" are socially constructed and subject to prevailing social norms. For example, I do not see myself as unpatriotic simply because I oppose the war. After all, in addition to opposing military action at this time based on humanitarian grounds, I also believe that war goes against the interests of the United States.

I do not see how the consequences of war - already being seen in lost husbands and sons, in American newborn twins who will never know their father - are enough to justify this military action. Because of these beliefs, many people have already labeled me as unpatriotic. Perhaps because of the prevailing pro-war climate, I constantly find myself on the defensive because of this stand, feeling the need to prove my own love of country.

I do not doubt the patriotism of people who are willing to risk the lives of thousands of young men and women who are being shipped to war. Yet somehow, those who do not agree with my position on the war feel they can question my patriotism - my love of country - with impunity. More than fifty years ago, in a move that went beyond racism, the American government called into question the patriotism of many of its Japanese-American citizens.

Japanese-Americans, even those born and raised in the United States, lost much of their civil and political rights as they were relocated to internment camps in Arizona and New Mexico. This period, described by John Okada in the novel No Boy, presents a starker consequence of these conflicting concepts of patriotism in a time of war. Throughout much of the novel, the lead character Ichiro, a Japanese-American, fights being labeled as "unpatriotic" because of his refusal to fight in the war against the Japanese.

For Ichiro, however, saying "no-no" to the war has harsher penalties, as it lands him in a Japanese interment camp. In addition to being unpatriotic, Ichiro was also labeled a spy. The interment destroyed Ichiro, and he spends much of the novel regretting his decision, and perhaps even believing that his decision was, indeed, unpatriotic. He is even envious of his friend Kenji, who lost a leg fighting with the American army.

Though Ichiro is physically strong, he would now change places with Kenji in a heartbeat, thinking, "give me the stump which gives you the right to hold your head high" (64). For Ichiro, was a crutch, something he needed to wave at the people who condemn him for deciding not to join the war. He would have rather lost a leg than lost his standing as an American. While Ichiro's definition of patriotism is sadly narrow, that of his mother is much more limiting.

The mother in the novel defines patriotism as love of her country, and despite having lived in the United States, her country is Japan. "No, the mother," she says. "It is she who is dead because she did not conduct herself as a Japanese and, no linger being Japanese, she is dead" (21). For Ichiro's mother, the Japanese men who went against Japanese interests by fighting in the war was more than unpatriotic. They were dead. In the end, unable to accept her country's defeat, the woman commits suicide.

Throughout the novel, Okada shows how strict concepts of patriotism are ultimately inadequate in defining one's actions, especially for people on the margins, people who are "part of America and, at the same time, would never be wholly America" (71). Fifty years later, these dichotomous definitions of patriotism assume a new relevance, as being patriotic has taken on opposing meanings. One side measures patriotism in a willingness to sacrifice for one's country, as expressed in supporting the troops in Iraq. They assert that patriotism demands the unconditional.