“They Called Us Enemy”, written by George Takei, is a personal narrative of the author when he was a Japanese American kid in the midst of World War II. As I read the comic, I noticed the importance of family and how that relates to themes of resilience and persistence throughout the comic. George’s family consists of his parents and his brother, and every of his family members serves to support George growing up. Both of his parents are very loving and tried their best to shelter George from the discriminated reality of their internment camps. From the dad’s way of being firm against their hardships to the mom being always protective of her children, they show their priorities are their children’s safety, happiness, and emotional well-being before their own. Even his brother was always there by George’s side to keep him company and made sure no stranger would hurt them. To me, these are all examples of the strong bond and support that families have for each other during hardships.

A similar idea of familial bonds can be seen in “The Breadwinner,” which explores the life of a young girl determined to support her family under the oppressive regime of the Taliban in Afghanistan. After her father was thrown in prison, she was determined to dress as a boy to be the breadwinner when her family was on the verge of starvation. Unlike “They Call Us Enemy” where George’s parents were capable of providing their children comfort, the girl’s parents were persecuted by the Taliban and rendering them incapable of caring for their children. This girl’s actions show the sacrifice of her childhood and feminity to protect and reunite her parents and younger siblings.

While families are there to support one another through tough times, why must there be injustice and incarceration of specific ethnicities that force these families to protect each other to the extreme? What disturbs me most after reading these comics are the larger governments that quarrel with one another for honor and pride but do not realize the harm they cause for their citizens. Only the lives of the farmers and carpenters are lost and the casualties of the honest people breed new hate toward different ethnic groups.