As I read the graphic novel, They Called Us Enemy, I observed how people dealt with existential crises and how it affects them. The different ways people thought and responded to their crises were demonstrated through their thoughts. The three main ways that people dealt with their problems were active ways of protesting, communicating with more powerful positions, and completely ignoring the problem. All of these ways differently impacted the Japanese people.

The first way people dealt with the imposing problem of racism and segregation was by actively protesting against the power position. This can be seen in the novel, They Called Us Enemy, as many protesters were mad about the fact that their lives were taken away from them. They continued to protest against these imposing problems, But to be fair by actively protesting and using factors of intimidation the problem only got worse. While protesting is fine some violent factors made the strictness of the camps begin to increase and the Japanese were treated even worse. While this is one way to stand up against the imposing power it’s not the best way as active or violent methods have to be treated with harsher and more violent methods.

The second way people stood up to the problem was by using their influence to communicate to the power positions peacefully. This can be seen in the graphic novel, They Called Us Enemy, as George Takei’s dad was able to communicate with the power positions. By doing this he was able to create order in the camps and obtain a secretary and a reasonable job. All positivity affecting the Japanese as it showed the government that not everybody was trying to riot. George Takei’s dad was at least able to negotiate and make the best of his situation considering how horrible it was.

The final way that people process their problems was by completely ignoring the problem and thinking that everything is fine. While this isn’t detailed in the story or graphic novel it is something that can be seen and thought of. Many Americans that were employed or intellectually acknowledged the Japanese internment camps. While they knew of these camps and the horrors and mistreatment of the Japanese they still pretended like everything was fine and didn’t do anything to stop them. While some did…many didn’t try and help.

In conclusion, our ways of thinking influence us. We deal with problems in many different ways and every single one of those ways impacts us in a different way. The three main ways that were demonstrated during the Japanese internment camps were completely ignoring the problem, using their position to communicate to power holders, and actively protesting. While none of these reactions can be seen as irregular or wrong they all demonstrate how we deal with problems in our community and in our country.