Japanese Internment Memorial Vignette

Ruth Asawa's Japanese Internment Memorial really opened my eyes. There are several vignettes on the sculpture that really stuck-out compared to the rest.

The central theme I got from this piece was that of occupation and improvisation. I say improvisation because this memorial showed me that Japanese-Americans, though interned and isolated, still elected to live their lives to the fullest. They were left with no choice but to make the best of their situation.

The Memorial works as a before and after, as in regards to the internment of Japanese-Americans. The vignette I chose to write about is on the side that shows life in an internment camp. The vignette displays a baseball game being played by the interned. This image struck me because I found it surprising that sports were being played in the camps. I had always envisioned the internment camps as a milder form of prison, where all liberties were denied. However according to Asawa's sculpture, life was still enjoyed, to a certain extent, by the interned.

The Baseball vignette symbolizes the Japanese Americans' attempt to keep on living and enjoy their lives as much as possible. It represents their spirit to not let the internment keep them from enjoying their existence. Now I'm not saying that they were having a great time during the camp, but I am saying that they tried to make the best of a horrible situation.

Another part of the sculpture that struck me was the paper airplane that soared above the barbed wire. It was quite an image to see that this simple paper plane was indeed more free than the people in the camps. It really got me to think and to appreciate my freedom.

It is encouraging and depressing to see how injustice can influence an entire people.