Julie Outsuka's Imagery and Descriptive Detail

The book “When the Emperor Was Divine” is about a Japanese family, who had to evacuate California and leave their Americanized life behind to live in Internment camps in the Utah deserts.  When first reading this book, I noticed that the author presented a lot of imagery. The author goes into so much detail with the characters surroundings I can almost picture myself in the narrator’s shoes.  It was interesting how perfectly detailed the author narrated this book.

In the first chapter of the book “When the Emperor Was Divine” the author go into much detail about the dress the woman was wearing, her house, and her surroundings.  For example, “Outside the sun was warm and the palm fronds were clacking idly against the side of the house. She pulled on her white silk gloves and began to walk east on Ashby.” The author Julie Otsuka expressed so much detail from the warm sun to her silk gloves. Throughout the book there was much disruptive imagery. These descriptive details made me feel like I was in place of the character experiencing all these senses. I actually enjoyed the fact that the book was very detailed with the setting because it made me as the reader have a better understanding of where and when this book was taking place.

I believe that Outsuka’s purpose for making this novel so descriptive is because she wants the reader to feel like they are experiencing what the characters are experiencing. Even though nothing can compare to what these characters are and about to face, the reader can kind of get a sense of what the characters are seeing and having to go through. For example, when the 11 year old girl was on the train she was getting nausea on the train the woman was describing the smell that was making the girl sick. “Some of the passengers were sick from the uneven rocking of the cars and the crowded compartments smelled of vomit and sweat and faintly oranges.” This quote made me feel a little nausea reading it. Outsuka uses much imagery and descriptive detail to try to put the reader in the novel.