Analysis Of Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet

In Jamie Ford’s historical fiction Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, this split narrative focuses on two eras: 1942 and 1986. Within these era’s, Ford’s novel focuses on a Chinese boy, Henry Lee, and what it was like to grow up in the international district with prejudice everywhere, especially in his own family being a first generation American. His novel tells the story of Henry, as well as a Japanese girl by the name of Keiko. The novel tells the story of these two young friends and the hardships faced when the government sends Keiko and her family away to the Japanese internment camps in the Northwest in the 1940’s. His novel displays the effects

Jamie Ford, the author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, wrote a story about a Chinese boy named Henry and how he fell in love with a Japanese-American girl named Keiko Okabe. Their adorable and heart wrenching love story took place at Seattle, Washington during World War II when tensions rose between Americans, Chinese, and Japanese. In the novel, Henry’s father was a traditional Chinese man who was extremely loyal to his country. Due to his strong devotion to his homeland and resentment toward Japanese people, he disapproved of his son’s friendship with Keiko. As Henry’s affection and admiration grew for Keiko, his relationship with his father suffered. Misunderstandings and built up frustrations emerged from their lack of communication. Henry struggled with communication, the key to forming a strong relationship and a UULO that is significant throughout this novel. Because of this, he had a difficult time maintaining many of his relationships, including the one with his father, Keiko and his son, Marty.

After the attack on the Pearl Harbor in 1941, a surprise military strike by the Japanese Navy air service, United States was thrilled and it provoked World War II. Two months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, U.S. President FDR ordered all Japanese-Americans regardless of their loyalty or citizenship, to evacuate the West Coast. This resulted over 127,000 people of Japanese descent relocate across the country in the Japanese Internment camps. Many of them were American Citizens but their crime was being of Japanese ancestry. They were forced to evacuate their homes and leave their jobs and in some cases family members were separated and put into different internment camps. There were ten internment camps were placed in “California, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, and Arkansas”(History.com). However, until the camps were fully build, the Japanese people were held in temporary centers. In addition, almost two-thirds of the interns were Japanese Americans born in the United States and It made no difference that many of them had never even been to Japan. Also, Japanese-American veterans of World War I were forced to leave their homes and relocate in the internment camps. Japanese families in internment camps dined together, children were expected to attend school, and adults had the option of working for earning $5 per day. The United States government hoped that the internment camps could make it self-sufficient by farming to produce food.

Being held by your word because you make a promise, or commitment is frustrating and tough. You don’t always want to do what you promised because it could be hard, or get you into trouble. Throughout the book Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Henry and Keiko’s relationship comes at a cost. They make commitments that comes with sacrifices which makes them hard to keep. Through Henry and Keiko’s relationship Ford shows that commitment is difficult.

When Franklin Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942,1 thousands of Japanese-American families were relocated to internment camps in an attempt to suppress supposed espionage and sabotage attempts on the part of the Japanese government. Not only was this relocation based on false premises and shaky evidence, but it also violated the rights of Japanese-Americans through processes of institutional racism that were imposed following the events of Pearl Harbor. Targeting mostly Issei and Nisei citizens, first and second generation Japanese-Americans respectively,2 the policy of internment disrupted the lives of families, resulting in a loss of personal property, emotional distress,

Japanese internment camps from 1942 to 1946 were an exemplification of discrimination, many Japanese Americans were no longer accepted in their communities after the Bombing of Pearl Harbor. They were perceived as traitors and faced humiliation due to anti-Japanese sentiment causing them to be forced to endure several hardships such as leaving behind their properties to go an imprisoned state, facing inadequate housing conditions, and encountering destitute institutions. The Bombing of Pearl Harbor occurred on December 7, 1941 (Why I Love a Country that Once Betrayed Me). This led president Roosevelt to sign the executive order 9066, which authorized the army to remove any individual that seemed as a potential threat to the nation (“Executive Order 9066”) This order allowed the military to exclude “‘any or all persons from designated areas, including the California coast.”’ (Fremon 31). Many Japanese opposed to leave the Pacific Coast on their own free will (Fremon 24) . Japanese Americans would not be accepted in other areas if they moved either.Idaho’s governor stated, Japanese would be welcomed “only if they were in concentration camps under guard”(Fremon 35). The camps were located in Arizona, Arkansas, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, and California where thousands of Japanese Americans eventually relocated. (“Japanese Americans at Manzanar”) The internment lasted for 3 years and the last camp did not close until 1946. (Lessons Learned: Japanese Internment During WW2)

On February 19th 1942, Roosevelt signed the executive order 9066. Under the terms of the order, people of Japanese descent were placed in internment camps. The United States’ justification for this abominable action was that the Japanese American’s may spy for their Homeland. Over 62% of the Japanese that were held in these camps were American Citizens. The United States’ internment of the Japanese was a poor and cowardly method of ‘keeping the peace.’ The United States was not justified in stowing away Japanese Americans into almost concentration camps. This act goes against the basic Bill Of Rights granted to all American citizens, the Fifth Amendment's command that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due

The American government evacuated approximately 120,000 Japanese Nationals, American citizens of Japanese descent during World War II, and placed them in internment camps at the beginning of World War II. Japanese Americans were forced from their homes and businesses, forced into relocation camps in the deserts of California, Arizona, into the mountains of Idaho, and small towns in the southern United States. These were Japanese American people of unquestionable loyalty to the United States. These were citizens denied the rights of normal citizens under the United States Constitution. Americans who had volunteered to fight in the war for the United States, and against the Japan. They wanted to fight for the United

They were instructed to evacuate their homes within a 48 hour period of time. They had no constitutional rights they had previously had before. The Fourth Amendment states: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” The Fourth Amendment was completely disregarded and their internment was only justified by a statement that we needed to be protected from any possible espionage. Their basic constitutional rights were disregarded and they were treated as prisoners. The Japanese-Americans were not allowed to leave the internment camps, under any circumstances, until the war was finished. They had no sliver of freedom and had to transition into this new way of life without choice or reasonable

"Family isn't always blood. It'd the people in your life who want you in theirs; the ones who accept you for who you are, the ones who would do anything to see you smile, and love you no matter what"(anonymous). In the Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, Henry Lee discovers that sometimes friends care more then family. Relationships are difficult and have changed between Henry, Henry's father, Henry's son, Keiko. Some relationships fall shirt from expectations, while others survive the long haul.

Jamie Ford’s novel Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet follows the life of Henry Lee at two diverse stages of his life. The book focuses on Henry’s life in 1942 when he was twelve-years-old and in 1986 when he is an old widowed father. The book begins with old Henry walking passed the Panama Hotel, which was in the 1940s a gateway between Seattle’s Chinatown and Japantown. The hotel has long been deserted, and boarded up since War World 2 and is under a new owner, who in the basement of the hotel discovers long forgotten belongings of several Japanese-American families. As Henry is walking passed the hotel he notices a crowd of people in front of the hotel. The crowd gathered as the owner pulls items from the forgotten effects. Henry stood wondering if his broken heart would be in the items. A Japanese parasol sends Henry wondering about his long lost love Keiko a Japanese girl who he befriended when he was twelve-years-old. During WW2 Keiko, her family, and several Japanese-American families were forced into internment camps because America feared that they were enemies of the country, several months after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. The following essay, will examine historical context of the book, policy issues, how the policy influences the main characters of the book, the books main themes and how they fit within social work practice and social welfare policy.

History has a perpetuating stigma. "The theme of resilience is a thread woven throughout this beautiful story...friendship survives the challenges of cultural alienation, forbidden love, internment, and years of separation" (Greenwalt 1). The action of a forced evacuation against a minority group because of the location of their residence and their ethnicities is a paramount in Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford. Setting is such a major influence on Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Ford because of World War I, the executive order forcing citizens of Japanese descent into internment camps, and the location in the story.

Shortly after the United States entered into war with Japan, the federal government initiated a policy whereby 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry were rounded up and herded into camps, 2/3 of these people were actually United States citizens. They were incarcerated without indictment, trial, or counsel - not because they had committed a crime, but simply because they resembled the enemy. These were similar to concentration camps that the Germans were using for the Jews, though no one was being killed and Japanese Americans were allowed to work within the camps. Not many Americans knew about the camps at that time, and some still don't know today. Like discussed in class, it was an embarrassing moment for this country. The book that was assigned in class, Desert Exile by Yoshiko Uchida, told the story of a family who lived through these horrible times. As we discussed in class

After the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor, life in the U.S. had changed. It was the first time in a long time that America was attacked on its homeland. This national security threat was a big shock to the people. The Japanese had to suffer the consequences of their attack. Just as the Germans developed concentration camps for the Jewish during World War II, the Americans set up "relocation" programs better known as internment camps to keep all the Japanese. The reason the Japanese were moved into these camps was because they were suspected of being spies. They were forced to live there for up to four years and were not able to continue with their own lives as they were before while they were living in these camps.

Throughout the novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford, the characters face discrimination due to their family's heritage. These discriminations continue to escalate throughout the Japanese war on the Americans. The bombings on Pearl Harbor cause much tension between families of Japanese heritage and the families born and raised in America. However, these characters continue to display courage throughout their actions and to stand up for what they believe, even though times are tough. Because of this, bravery is a common theme throughout the entire novel within most of the characters. Specifically, bravery is conveyed by Mr. Okabe, throughout his selflessness within his loyalty to America, dedication to his family, and