Divine Wind: Essay

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In the novel “The Divine Wind”, written by Gary Disher, is a novel which goes into depth and shows how the Japanese people living in Broome or Australia during World War II, were very misunderstood also were expected to assimilate with the rest of the population or the Indigenous people. This essay will have the basis of how Zeke & Mitsy were treated in the novel with having comparisons of before the war, during and after the war. Also generally about the Sennosuke family and all the racism that was happening in Broome before the World War II also during and after the war.

In the novel, Mitsy Sennosuke has gone through racism also suffered hard times because of the death of her father Zeke Sennosuke. Even though Mitsy was born in Australia and lives in Australia, she still calls Japan home. Mitsy doesn’t get a lot of verbal racism in the novel, but she often over hears about. The was her biggest challenge and an issue which she was misunderstood for the most.”We’ve taken up a collection to take home, Home? You know what I mean”(pg 35). Mitsy faces this issue throughout the whole novel but the struggle becomes harsher when the war starts to get into full action. Mitsy is really understood in the novel, even though she is from another race and speaks another language, she is stereo typed as an alien, because she is from a different race and looks different to everyone else.” I suppose, that the Japanese were easily identified as aliens”(@).

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Zeke Sennosuke is another Japanese character in the novel who experiences misunderstanding. Zeke is a Japanese  immigrant or in those times stated as an ‘ Alien ‘ who took refuge in Australia, who hopes of a better life for himself and his family to come. A lot like Mitsy, Zeke is also trying to find where he assimilates, as a Japanese citizen or an Australian citizen to be. “We all noticed a change in Misty and her father as the talk of the Japan and Japanese aims intensified”(pg 34). Zeke had not seen “Japan for forty years”(pg 34) but still ...

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