An Analysis of the Memoir Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki and James Houston

Jeanne was 7 years old when Pearl Harbor was bombed, her father was arrested, and her mother and 9 brothers and sisters were sent to live at an internment camp. Farewell to Manzanar, by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston, was published in 1973 portraying a Japanese American experience during and after World War II. Manzanar is where Jeanne's and her Papa's life lines intersected, and where her life began, yet it was where her Papa's ended.

Born in 1934, Jeanne Wakatsuki was only 7 when the U.S. government sent her and her family to live in an internment camp. For Jeanne, this is where her life began. Manzanar is the place where she became of age. "Then one afternoon there came a moment when I was cut off from both of them, Papa and Mama together. It wasn't loneliness I felt, or isolation; they were still within reach. Rather, it was the first, brief flicker of total separateness. It could have occurred anywhere we might have been living: I had reached the age" (Houston Pg. 118). Reaching "the age" is where a person's life really starts; they become more independent and make more of their own choices. "Now, more and more I found myself cut off from him" (Houston Pg. 117). Being cut off means to be separated from, or having much more limited access. Jeanne's life was being cut off from her Papa's. Yet, while Jeanne's life was beginning at Manzanar, her Papa's life was coming to a close.

Wakatsuki Ko, or Papa, was born in 1887, at a time in Japan when there weren't warriors anymore. Ko's life ended at Manzanar, over time it had subdued him, resigned him. He no longer held on to his self-respect as tightly as he had before Manzanar, it had loosened his grip. "Like many of the older Issei men, he didn't take a regular job in camp. He puttered" (Houston Pg. 97). He wasn't as lively as he used to be before the camp, he didn't take a job, instead, he took up some of the hobbies he would have otherwise had no time for. "The start of World War II was not the climax to our life in Ocean Park. Pearl Harbor just snipped it off, stopped it from becoming whatever else lay ahead" (Houston Pg. 56). It discouraged Ko in such a way that he lost his drive in life, his determination. He wouldn't have that "flourish" in life that he had for so long.

Order custom essay An Analysis of the Memoir Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki and James Houston with free plagiarism report

450+ experts on 30 subjects Starting from 3 hours delivery

Get Essay Help

For the two, Jeanne and Papa, Manzanar was a turning point in both their lives, much like the point of intersection of two lines. They intersect at one point. A person's life begins at one and only one point, and ends at one and only one point. The point at which Jeanne's life began was at Manzanar, and at the same time, it was the point at which Papa's life ended. Their lines in life intersected at Manzanar because lines only intersect once, straight by definition, they cannot curve back and intersect the same line a second time. Manzanar was the point at which both their lives changed significantly.

Don't let plagiarism ruin your grade

Run a free check or have your essay done for you

Check my essay Hire Writer