When the Emperor was Divine 1

I think the mother in When the Emperor was Divine is an extremely vital character.  She plays a very strong role. She is the sole provider for her children, she is the emotional, physical, and mental soldier for her family.  She provides for her two children while her husband is off in jail, because the government fears he may be some sort of traitor or spy.  She has tried to give her children the best life possible by allowing them to grow up very American.  They are English speaking kids, they do not speak Japanese they participate in normal children activities such as baseball and piano.  The mother is very much the emotional leader or rock of the family.  It is her job to help the children cope with the fact that their father is no longer around.  She has to play both mom and dad.  She puts up a facade for her children.  She never allows them to know when things are not going as well as they could be going.  The mother knows all along that she and the children are going to be taken into the internment camps but she still goes on with life as everything is okay for her children.  She is the physical leader for her family, she brings home the bacon, makes sure everything is all set for her kids, looks after the home and their pets.  She is a wonder woman for her children.  I believe that so far in this book the mother is the most important character.  She is everything to her kids. She wants to give them the best life possible and she wants to shelter them from any heartache.