On pages45-68 of “They Called Us Enemy” by George Takei describe what we are learning about characters in the story(George Takei and/or his family)

George characterizes his father as a cool, confident man who easily won the support and trust of the other detainees, though he tries to imagine how terrifying it must have been for Takekuma in the days of internment as he put on a brave face for his family. “Through my child's eyes, Daddy always seemed in command of any given situation” (44). George explains in text beneath a drawing of himself as a child beaming happily, without a care in the world. However, he knows that in reality, “It was my father who bore the brunt of the pain, the anguish” (45). Nevertheless, Takekuma still upheld that American democracy was the greatest system in the world, despite the United States government's “terrible mistake” (45) of internment during World War II.

The anxiety the adults felt is palpable in these pages, as they had no idea where they were being taken or what to expect when they got there. When the bus pulls over to allow the detainees time to “exercise,” one passenger asks, “They're gonna kill us here, aren't they?” (42). This anxiety is depicted in the drawings, particularly as George discusses the disparity between his own memory and what his parents were feeling. The adults' faces are furrowed with concern, their eyes always following the children who, in contrast, are running up and down the aisles of the train, laughing and playing hide and seek. “I know that I will always be haunted by the larger, vaguely remembered reality of the circumstances surrounding my childhood” (51), George explains. His happy memories of this time clash with the reality of what he understands in retrospect, and he likely feels some level of guilt for having enjoyed himself while his parents suffered. In another moment of child-like simplicity, when the train pulls into the station at Camp Rohwer, George misunderstands the name and thinks someone is roaring. The picture in this panel depicts two guards with guns and beastly, leonine faces and manes. On the one hand, this is a cute example of the way children get easily confused by homonyms; on the other, it is a testament to how frightening the guards and their weaponry must have been to George and all the other Japanese children being interned.

The Rohwer Relocation Center was located in southeast Arkansas' Desha County, and operated from September 1942 to November 1945. The camp covered 10,000 acres of land and housed over 8,000 interned Japanese Americans during this time, all from California. There were ten relocation camps in operation during the war, holding over 100,000 people, 62% of whom were American citizens. As George notes, there were first, second, and third generation Japanese Americans in the camp, because anyone of Japanese descent was deemed a potential threat.