The beginning of the book opens up with a flashback of the day Papa gets taken of the day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The narrator is a girl name Jeanne and has other siblings, also. She starts to run through some memories of the tradition she had of standing on the wharf with her mother watching her father sat out on another fishing trip. Like any other time she watches until the boats clear the horizon but on this day Papa’s boat and the rest of the fleet stop short of the horizon. This being because Japanese planes just bombed Pearl Harbor so Papa and the rest had to turn around and sail back to the shore. Papa starts to burn all of his Japanese artifacts he got when he was based out of Hiroshima because he knows that being of the
Wakatsuki describes Papa as “a poster, a braggart, and a tyrant”. But he held on to his self-respect” (58). He was “absurdly proud” (54) that he went to the law school, even though he never finished. Prior to the evacuation and internment, his self-esteem was not destroyed. When “Papa was taken to the prison, he did not let the deputies push him out the door, instead he led them” (8).
The book is narrated by a little girl named Jook-Liang (or just Liang). You are introduced to her and her family who live in Vancouver B.C. during the Great Depression. She lives in a rundown house with her father; her real mom (who she's made to call Stepmother); the "old one", the children's grandmother-- Poh-Poh; and 3 brothers. The oldest Kiam; second oldest-- an orphan the family adopted Jung-Sum; and then would be Liang; and then the youngest child Sek-Lung (or Sekky).
involved troubling situations. Look at how she grew up. The book starts off during a time of Jim
The Wakatsukis are a Japanese family with ten children, the youngest of who is Jeanne; she is the narrator and author of the story. In December 1941, the Wakatsukis are living near Long Beach, California. Mr. and Mrs. Wakatsuki are immigrants; they have come to the United States from Japan, searching for the American Dream. Jeanne's father and brothers man a fishing boat called The Nereid and work for the canneries on the coast. On December 7th, Jeanne stands on shore with the other Wakatsuki females; they all wave good-bye to the Wakatsuki men as they set out to sea. As the women watch the Nereid travel further away, it suddenly turns and heads back to shore. Jeanne and the others are confused about the strange return until a cannery worker on the docks runs toward them; he delivers the news that Japan has just bombed Pearl Harbor in a deadly surprise attack. Jeanne's father is immediately frightened that his ties to Japan will cause him trouble; he goes home and burns the flag he had brought from Hiroshima, as well as all documents that might tie him to Japan. The family then relocates to the home of their eldest son, Woody, who lives on Terminal Island. After two weeks, Ko Wakatsuki, Jeanne's father, is arrested and interrogated. Later the family learns that he has been taken into custody and falsely charged with supplying oil to Japanese submarines offshore.
Finally, it happened. Sorry, his mother, grandmother, sister, and teacher Tara, heard ships. The voices on the ships were not that of the conquering Japanese, though. The voices were of Americans. They ran to the shore to greet the Americans. They thought of this to be the end of the pain the island had under the Japanese.
The entire book will be told to us through a compilation of letters addressed to Isabel ( who we assume is Mims Mothers sister Isabel) As we get to know our 16 year old heroine Mim (Mary Iris Malone) who will jump on a Greyhound bus after over hearing a conversation in the principals office between the principal, her father and her step mother (of whom Mim is not precisely fond of) in which Mim understands her mother is sick. Without giving it a second thought Mim decides she must get to her mother who lives in Cleveland, before or on Memorial Day (as this was their special day).
The book “This Boy’s Life” by Tobias Wolff is a memoir written about the author’s childhood memories and experiences. The author shows many different characters within the book. Many of them are just minor character that does not affect the author much in his life choices and thoughts throughout his growth. But there are some that acts as the protagonist and some the antagonist. One of them is Dwight, the protagonist’s or Jack’s stepfather. This character seems to be one of the characters that inhibit Jack’s choices and decisions. This character plays a huge role in Jack’s life as it leaves a huge scar in his memory. The author here spends the majority of time in this character in the memoir to show the readers the relationship between Jack and Dwight.
Farewell to Manzanar, by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston, describes the life of Jeanne and her family during World War II. During this time Jeanne was a young girl who could not comprehend what was occurring in her life. Jeanne and her family were forced to move to Manzanar due to government orders after the bombing of pearl harbor. After the bombing, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order, that relocated all Japanese-Americans to internment camps. In the camps were Jeanne and her family were forced to live, her and her family faced difficult living conditions, conflict with other, riots, cultural conflict and racial issues.
Julie Otsuka’s story, “When the Emperor was Divine,” illustrates what calamities an unnamed Japanese American family lived through during, and after being sent to an internment camp by the American government. The story takes place after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, when America was engulfed in a rise of “yellow peril” emitting a widespread fear of Japanese people across the country. Every chapter is see through the eyes of a different family member and gives the readers details about how differently each character was affected by the events that unfolded around them. Rather than explaining what the characters felt, Otsuka used symbolism to enumerate the hidden themes within the story, such as with the use of the woman’s rosebush. In the fourth chapter, Otsuka uses the rosebush as a symbol of the family’s former lives, and how that freedom was stolen from them, never to be found again.
The book begins with an introduction. In the introduction it tells about James Quale Burden (Jim Burden) and how the story came to be written. The introduction is written by a woman who is an old friend to Jim and who grew up in the same Nebraska town as he did. They are both now living in New York where Jim is a successful lawyer.
In addition, the Pearl Harbor bombings also become a component in the story. Aftermath from the bombing effect Japanese citizens in numerous ways. The whites blame all Japanese in America for the bombing and discriminate against them. Some even get arrested for no
The mother, wife, and strong soul that is Juana in The Pearl by John Steinbeck, draws us in with her unique personality. Juana lives in a brush house by the sea, with her husband, Kino, and infant son, Coyotito, poor but content. Juana is wise, motherly, and silently strong because of her love for her family.
The Pearl written by John Steinbeck is a parable, a story that teaches a moral lesson. This novel is centered on a poor Indian family, who live in a brush hut along the Gulf of Mexico and by the village of La Paz. The family consists of: Kino, a fisherman and pearl diver, his wife Juana, and their infant son Coyotito. One day while diving, Kino discovers a great pearl that he calls, “the pearl of the world” (22). The theme of a literary work is defined as the central idea, concern or purpose about life that a writer wishes to convey. There may be several themes identified in a literary work; however, in John Steinbeck’s novel The Pearl the author uses the pearl to develop one of the most essential universal themes in literature, that of humanity’s struggle with violence.
The Pearl plays an important role in redefining American literature for this time period, and it shows problems that remained an issue for a long time. There were social and cultural inequalities displayed throughout this novel that described the living conditions of the Mexicans around the 1940s. It can also show how hard it is to chase dreams when they are motivated by greed, and can ultimately lead to destruction.
After wavering back and forth on potential subjects, I decided on my Papa Cinfio, and uncovered inspiration behind my choice as I went along. Most significantly, Papa always encouraged my art, no matter the type, drawing, painting, photography, etc., but with writing in particular, he saw my potential. He often read my writing and truly saw though the technicolor kaleidoscopes of perception I mentioned. Countless times I remember Papa asking me what was on my mind, wanting to know what universe my thoughts were drifting into. With writing, his interest in my thinking was fulfilled. Being that he passed away only a little less than a month before my high school graduation, writing about him, and for him, seemed to fit well.