There's definitely a lot of "othering" in Heart of a Samurai, and not just from the white characters. Being anti-foreigner is a thing that both the Japanese characters and the American characters alike are guilty of. Those who are successful in the book—like our main guy Manjiro and his surrogate dad Captain Whitfield—tend to be the ones who embrace foreignness rather than turn away from it. Those who are the most closed minded, well, their futures look a lot dimmer.
Questions About Foreignness and the Other
- What is the relationship between national politics and personal attitudes toward foreigners?
- What does "barbaric" mean to the Japanese and to the Americans?
- Whose anti-foreigner attitude is worse: the Japanese or American characters?
- Does the book show alternative ways to treat foreigners that don't include treating them like they're the "other"?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
Treating a foreigner as an outsider is a failure to recognize that we are all human.
It is possible to accept and welcome foreigners in a way that doesn't make them feel foreign, but to do so, you must acknowledge your differences.