Farewell To Manzanar: From The Savior To The Enemy

The main conflict in the story, Farewell to Manzanar, the external conflict begins with one provocation: the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Sunday, December 7, 1941. This kind of conflict happens between the protagonist and society. On this day, Papa and his crew are headed out on a commercial fishing trip. Jeanne, her mother and the other woman wave goodbye from shore, and bid them safe travels. Though before the boat can disappear into the horizon, it is turned around under suspicion of providing oil to Japanese submarines. A passerby alerts them of the harbor's attack. Just days later Papa is detained, and Jeanne's internal conflict begins.

There are many things that happened to Japanese-American immigrants during World War 2 that people in this time period aren’t really familiar with. A story from a Japanese woman, Jeanne Wakatsuki-Houston, who was born and lived in this era, with help from her husband, James D. Houston, explains and sheds some light during the times where internment camps still prevailed. The writing piece titled “Arrival at Manzanar", takes place during her childhood and the Second World War. In the beginning, Jeanne and her family were living a calm and peaceful life in a predominantly white neighborhood, until disaster struck the world and they were forced to move due to escalating tensions between Japanese Orientals and white Americans. At the time, Japanese-Americans, like Jeanne, were forced to live in an internment camp, which is a prison of sorts, due to the war with Japan. The text is being told through a first person point-of-view in which Jeanne herself tells the story through her experiences during the war. In that story, which contains only a part of the original text, much of the setting took place either prior to and during the time she was sent to the internment camps and describes her struggle with it. This story clearly states the importance of family and perseverance which is shown through her use of pathos, definition, and chronological storytelling.

Fighting a war against the oppression and persecution of a people, how hypocritical of the American government to harass and punish those based on their heritage. Magnifying the already existing dilemma of discrimination, the bombing of Pearl Harbor introduced Japanese-Americans to the harsh and unjust treatment they were forced to confront for a lifetime to come. Wakatsuki Ko, after thirty-five years of residence in the United States, was still prevented by law from becoming an American citizen.

The Train to Crystal City, written by Jan Jarboe Russell, is a book about internment camps that were constructed in the United States during WWII to house people the U.S. government classified as “enemy aliens”. For years, these camps were home to people of various nationalities, most notably those of Japanese, German, and Italian descent. A majority of the book follows the experiences and lives of several families that were interned at these internment camps during the war.

All the Shah’s Men by Stephen Kinzer details the 1953 American-orchestrated coup in Iran. Iran was under British economic control, but as it modernized, Iranians began fighting for their own control. Their fledgling democracy was working to modernize, until the UK and the US decided to interfere to protect Britain’s colonial holdings from Soviet influence. Because the US was not interested in protecting a British business, British politicians emphasized the threat the USSR held to Iran, leading to Americans inserting themselves into a nation’s politics in which they had no place. They successfully orchestrated a coup, however, the negative, long-term, anti-Western results overwhelm any positive effect. All the Shah’s Men by Stephen Kinzer paints a picture of the results of action without adequate attention to future results.

A Change in Papa “It was Papa himself, his dark, bitter, brooding presence. Once moved in, it seemed he didn’t go outside for months. He sat in there, or paced, alone a great deal of time, and Mama had to bring his meals from the mess hall” (Houston 65). In Farewell to Manzanar: A true story of Japanese American experience during and after the World War II internment, by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston, Jeanne’s father, Papa, had tremendous changes throughout the course of the book.

There are several examples of change in Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston's Farewell to Manzanar. Some examples are positive/negative and linked to time. One instance of a positive/negative change is going to Manzanar. Manzanar was a positive change because “...in the case of my older brothers and sisters, we went with a certain amount of relief. They had all heard stories of Japanese homes being attacked, of beatings in the streets of California towns” (Houston 17). It was a negative change because “ ‘Woody, we can’t live like this. Animals live like this.’ “ (Houston 26).

The attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese led to the entry of the United States in the World War II. While the war was going on, the United States decided to put Japanese into camps an effort to get rid of Japanese spies and make sure that nobody had contact with Japan. In Farewell to Manzanar, an autobiography written by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston, the author shares her experience at camp Manzanar in Ohio Valley, California during the 1940s. The book was published in 1973, about 31 years after Wakatsuki left camp Manzanar.

In the novel Farewell to Manzanar, the author Jeanne Watatsuki Houston and James D Houston, they try to convey the theme prejudice. Throughout the novel the Japanese have to face the struggle of being the outgroup. “What had they charged him with? We didn't know that either, until an article appeared the next day in Santa Monica paper, saying he had been arrested for delivering oil to Japanese submarines offshore”(Houston 8). This shows prejudice against the Japanese because Papa has had this job for a while, and they didn't have any problems with it before. They just now start showing prejudice against a the Japanese because of the Pearl Harbor attacks, and are treating the Japanese unfairly. The author also conveys the theme prejudice against

We are three students from Berea-Midpark High School and we just finished reading your book for our literature circles. We are writing this letter with intent to share our thoughts and appreciation for the book.

Farewell to Manzanar is a collection of all of Jeanne Wakatsuki’s memories at Manzanar, an internment camp designed for Japanese immigrants. During World War II, the Japanese-Americans were relocated in Manzanar; the reason behind the relocation was due to them being accused of being threats to national security. I believe that the following paragraph is able to capture the struggle the author and the other residents of Manzanar faced in the journey home.

Oppression, defined as, “unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power” (merriam-webster.com) and prejudice, defined as, “injury or damage resulting from some judgment or action of another in disregard of one's rights” (merriam-webster.com), both actions that have changed people. Some people are changed for the worse and some are changed for the better, but some choose to share their story. Two people named Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and Elie Wiesel did this, they shared their story with the whole world. They both did this by writing autobiographical memoirs, Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston wrote Farewell to Manzanar alongside her husband and Elie Wiesel wrote Night, both sharing their experiences during well known events that have happened in the world today. Even though the stories have taken place at different places and different times, the people involved in these event experienced the same things. This does not mean that they were affected in the same way, they were affected differently in their own ways.

How do you think you would have handled being a Japanese living in America during World War Two? I would guess not too well, being taken from your home, put into camps, and you were treated like you were less than the rest of the Americans. Even though a lot of the Japanese living in America during this time had done nothing to support Japan, this still happened to them. It happened to Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, and she tells about it in her book, Farewell to Manzanar. It wasn’t fair, America had other enemies during that time but only the Japanese were sent to camps for that time. The Japanese-American Internment was fueled by more than war time panic. What role did prejudice play in the Japanese-American Relocation? Are there modern day

The camps represented a prison: no freedom, no privacy, no "America". Many families were separated and they did not know when they would see each other again. Internment was not a choice; it was a patriotic duty to prove Japanese-Americans' loyalty through submission to their new country. They had to believe in the government's reasoning and trust their new country. The years following the orders for the Japanese to be relocated would be frustrating and depressing for many. The Japanese expression "shi kata ganai" was widely adopted for these troublesome times. Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston's Farewell to Manzanar illustrates the hardships and frustrations of a Japanese family, separated by internment. Houston was interned herself, during the war, which contributes to the vivid reality of the book. It describes the development of a civilization behind the barbed wire, a society who was forced to stay together, under harsh conditions, in Manzanar.

To begin this important announcement, let me tell you of why his holiness would like to go on a holy crusade into the Holy Lands. We have received word that the Seljuk Turks have invaded the holy city of Jerusalem and has killed over 3,000 people. Merchants and his holiness would like to establish trade routes to help bring the city back to its former glory. We have als0 received word that as a result of the attacks, the nobility are fighting among themselves.