No-No Boy

Though others judge no-no boys harshly, Kenji, an old friend of Ichiro, does not judge him at all. Kenji served in the military and lost a leg. Recurring infection means he must continually go in for more amputations. Kenji is aware that the infection will eventually kill him and before the end of the novel, it does. Unlike Ichiro, Kenji has a warm and loving relationship with his family, especially his father who doesnot second guess Kenji’s decision to go off to the hospital with Ichiro and prepare to die alone. More than anything, Kenji desires an America of culture mixing, where the line between different ethnic groups completely dissolves. Though he is melancholy throughout the book, he doesnot indulge in self-pity as Freddie does. He loves Emi and clearly cares for Ichiro, wanting to see them headed for a happier future.

Presented as an antagonist for fueling her son’s identity crisis, Kin-chan (as she is called by her younger sister in a letter from home) came to America specifically to make money and return to Japan. She has vehemently opposed her sons becoming Americanized, forbidding records and record players. In doing so, she has engendered two different responses in her sons. Ichiro did as his mother wished and was jailed instead of fighting in the war. Taro, on the other hand, is eager to enlist to prove that he is American and not the good Japanese son his mother would have him be. It is revealed that Ichiro’s mother always lived frugally and continues to do so since she believes a boat will soon arrive to take her back to Japan. Though Ichiro acknowledges that his mother had a past life and identity, he cannot get her to reveal it. A part of him wants to sympathize with her and understand her, but a larger part of him resents her for the two years in jail that he feels she forced him to accept. Her death at the end of the novel does not prompt a full catharsis for Ichiro; in fact, he mourns for her less than he mourns for Kenji.

Ichiro’s father’s job seems to be to worry about everyone in the novel. He worries about Ichiro and Taro, though he is far more concerned for his wife. That said, he is unable, or unwilling, to try to talk sense into her when she reads a letter about Japan winning the war or when she refuses to listen to the pleas in missive form from her younger sister. He drowns his sorrow in whiskey, and when inebriated, he allows himself to think back to happier times, when he and his wife were young and in love. It is clear that he loves his sons, that he wants to stop Taro from leaving, and wants to welcome Ichiro home,but he is powerless in the face of Ichiro’s mother who determines the reality they live in. Ichiro repeatedly fights with his father, even pushing him to the ground on one occasion. Though he is apologetic for his outbursts, Ichiro cannot accept his father’s passivity.

Ichiro’s younger brother lacks the overt identity crisis that Ichiro suffers from. He doesn’t debate whether he is Japanese, or American, or Japanese American. He is simply American; to atone for his brother’s refusal to serve, he is desperate to join the military. Taro seems to lack any connection to his parents. While his father pleads with him not to leave, Taro refuses to meet his gaze and instead plays solitaire. Ichiro acknowledges that “Taro was not a son and not a brother because he was young and American and alien to his parents” (19). Ichiro tries to understand his brother until Taro arranges for Ichiro to be attacked by a group of teenagers;then Ichiro admits that he hates Taro for the way he can “walk the streets of America as if [he] owned them always and forever” (81). The years between them in age have allowed Taro more distance from his immigrant parents, and Ichiro feels that he has shouldered all the pressure and guilt.

A no-no boy like Ichiro, Freddie is also the victim of persecution when he returns home after prison. Though Ichiro remembers the old Freddie as cautious and serious, the new post-incarceration Freddie lives only for pleasure and vice. He is a foil to Kenji, not because one served while the other did not, but because Kenji is stoic and resolved that a better future must be on the horizon for those who will live to see it, whereas, Freddie is devoid of home. Freddie puts himself into a series of dangerous situations, such as sleeping with a neighbor’s wife, drinking, gambling, and finally driving wildly and crashing after his fight with Bull. Freddie’s role in the novel is to illustrate a path that Ichiro must reject. 

Ichiro is introduced to Emi by Kenji, who clearly has feelings for her. Knowing his condition is terminal, he seems to want the two of them to be together, rather than suffering alone. The cause of Emi’s sorrow and loneliness is her husband, Ralph, who is serving in the military and has signed up for another tour of duty without consulting her first. She tells Ichiro about Ralph’s family history, and it is clear that Ralph is a version of Taro, in that his military service was prompted by his elder brother’s actions. Unlike Ichiro, Ralph’s brother did serve, fighting in WWI. But like Ichiro, Ralph’s brother was upset by the racism of internment and was an outspoken protestor. Emi receives Ralph’s request for a divorce, signaling that Ralph has left her life permanently, just as Taro has left his brother’s life permanently in order to demonstrate his patriotism. By the conclusion of the book, Emi and Ichiro seem to be on the cusp on a romance.

Like Kenji, Bull served in the US military but, unlike Kenji, he heckles and attempts to physically harm no-no boys, first Ichiro at the beginning of the novel and then Freddie towards the conclusion of the book. Bull seems brutish and cruel, a mere bully, but at the end of the book another side of him emerges. His “gasping, beseeching howls” at the end of the book, when he collapses in tears after Freddie’s death, suggests pent up angst within this swaggering veteran who is perhaps doubly marred by racism and the effects of combat (250).

Mr. Carrick’s engineering firm is hiring a draftsman and after a short and informal interview, he offers Ichiro the job. Ichiro feels the need to explain himself, to tell Mr. Carrick about refusing to serve in the military. Mr. Carrick is not shocked or angry but instead says, “Hell, son. What’s that got to do with it?” (152). He wants to make Ichiro see that it is not really his fault and that he is deserving of a fresh start. Ichiro is touched and admires “the bigness of the heart of this American” (155) but he doesnot take the job. Instead, he decides again that loyalty to his family takes precedence and that he must try and fix his life in Seattle. 

An old instructor of Ichiro’s, Professor Brown is pleased to see him when Ichiro visits him at his University office. Though he says to Ichiro, “You fellows are as American as I am,” Ichiro doesnot feel secure revealing his true past (56). Instead, he lets Professor Brown assume that he served. Professor Brown encourages him to enroll in school again but Ichiro leaves his office feeling crestfallen and ashamed of himself.

As the director of the Christian Rehabilitation Center, Mr. Morrison hires those in need of jobs. He offers Ichiro a position but not without applying some guilt. Though he says he wishes to help Ichiro and Gary, another no-no boy he currently employs, it is evident that Mr. Morrison thinks that Ichiro has caused his own suffering by refusing to serve.