2:

The first panel I would like to acknowledge is on page 53, and really I think it’s important to look at all the panels in this page. We see the young boys peek out the window and make eye contact with an exhausted black man who looks at Takei with clearly sorrowful eyes. This whole page plays such a role in this story, because even though young Takei may not have understood in the moment, he was looking into the eyes of another man being mistreated for his race. Both Japanese and Black Americans were not treated equally during this time period, and seeing the two of them look at each other curiously creates such a parallel between their struggles.

The next panel I found interesting is at the bottom of page 47. Despite all the guards having treated the passengers like prisoners this entire team, this one guard seems to be rather playful with young Takei. He jokes with him about not touching his gun again and then lifts him onto the train, calling him “kiddo”. This is out of the ordinary compared to what we have seen so far since all the passengers have been wildly mistreated.

1:

I wanted to get some more details on what this train ride to the camps was like. Supposedly, some of the Japanese Americans were permitted to drive their own cars to the camps, but only a minuscule amount. The people who did ride the trains however, reported that they were in fact cramped and dirty. The shades were never allowed to be up, and they were forced to sleep sitting up in hard, uncomfortable seats.

Q:

What was the significance of Takei’s interaction with the guard? Is it to humanize them?