While reading the comic novel, “They Called Us Enemy,” I frequently compared my life to Henry’s, the main character, and questioned if I was grateful for my life as much as he was. Seeing and reading the characters in this novel receive the bare minimum at such a young age really makes me feel privileged and ungrateful for what I have.

My image above is specifically what I’ll be talking about. Henry is on the left and his little brother is on the right. It was Christmas day and Henry and his family decided to visit “Santa,” when Henry notices that Santa was fake and was actually Japanese. Instead of making a scene about it, he decided to keep silent so the rest of the kids can enjoy Christmas. Henry shows maturity and respect in this panel, but he does show gratitude since he still enjoyed the knock-off Santa like the other kids. This specific panel really touched me since Christmas is my favorite holiday. I remember in elementary school when every year we would take pictures with Santa and how painfully obvious there was real Santa. I always told people around me that the Santa on stage was fake and how everything was fake including this outfit and beard. I wasn’t grateful for the efforts of the school faculty nor was I respectful for the other students’ time.