Identity Conflict

     Throughout the book so far I see a lot of symbolism especially with the little boy relating to the challenges he is facing with his identity as an American and as a person.  Like in class we discussed the horses that may have symbolized his identity and when they were running off into the night on the train may have symbolized that the boy was feeling a loss of identity.
     In the boys chapter however there are many more instances that show this conflicting identity the boy is feeling.  On page 64 it says, "One evening, before he went to bed, he wrote his name in the dust across the top of the table.  All through the night, while he slept, more dust blew through the walls.  By morning his name was gone."  This could be mirroring how when they left their home they were placed by numbers instead of names.  It could symbolize how when he got to the internment camp and experienced life there he was slowly loosing his sense of self.  At the same time by writing his name in the desk in the first place could mean that he wants to hold on to his identity and his self, but the internment camp and the way his family is being treated is slowly causing him to pull away from himself.
     Another instance is when the rumors start popping up on the camp.  It says on page 70, "Every week they heard rumors.  The men and women would be put into separate camps.  They would be sterilized.  They would be stripped on their citizenship."  This is mirroring the fear that is circulating around.  The people know what is going on outside the camp.  They know there is prejudice that could be dangerous and that it is possible for these conditions to exist.  It was happening with the Jewish people in Germany at the same time why could it not happen to them?  I think this paragraph is crucial to understanding the fear of the people and how they were treated.
     The last example is on page 75, "She burned the family photographs and the three silk kimonos she had brought over with her nineteen years ago from Japan."  The mother is burning in this scene everything that tied to their heritage in Japan.  She stopped packing rice balls in their lunch boxes and replaced it with PB&J and she tells her kids that if anyone asks they are Chinese.  In this scene they are obviously getting rid of their identity in fear that something bad might happen to them.  The boy then proceeds a couple pages after to question why he needs to lie about who he is.  A man asks him in the book, "Chink or Jap?" The boy answers Chink and the guy runs away.  Then the boy who feels guilty about lying and feels that being a Chink was worse starts yelling he is really a Jap.  The guy does not hear him.  I think this scene shows that the boy isn't ashamed of being Japanese and he wants to let people know who he is but he is questioning why its such a bad thing and why people don't see him as an American.