Farewell To Manzanar Essay

The setting of a story - its time and place - can be critical in changing and determining a story’s events or actions. The setting in the story Farewell to Manzanar is one example of just how great the impact a story’s setting can have. The story takes place during World War 2 (1941-1945) at the Japanese Internment Camp “Manzanar”. This story is also partially set on Terminal Island. The setting of Farewell to Manzanar greatly impacts how the story’s characters are treated, what they are subjected to, and why.

Before moving to Manzanar, the Wakatsuki family moved to Terminal Island. Terminal Island is an island just outside of Los Angeles, California. Before and during World War 2, this island acted as a ghetto for Japanese immigrants that were being discriminated against. Jeanne, who has been terrified of other Oriental people her whole life, is forced to live in close proximity to thousands on terminal Island. This conflict would not have existed without the setting of Terminal Island and proves that settings can increase the difficulty of certain situations or events in a story.

The Japanese Internment Camp Manzanar is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada.

The Sierra Nevada is a mountain range in eastern California which is surrounded by miles of desert. Manzanar location in the desert subject it to a very high amount of heat and sand, which impacts the characters of this novel greatly. In fact, one of the first problems that the family in this story faces after relocating to Manzanar is the sand that fills their barracks and homes. The location of this camp increases the hardships that they would have possibly been faced in another

location.

This majority of this story takes place during World War 2, which leads to increased conflicts and problems for the story’s protagonists due to their nationality and ethnic origin. This time period is the main reason that the internment camps were created and that Japanese American families, like the one in this story, were sent to them. The time period also causes far more discrimination toward immigrants that if it were to take place today. Because of this stories time period the internees are subjected to far more discrimination.

These three examples of setting all impact the protagonists of the story negatively in some way. If the location of Terminal Island, the Japanese Internment Camp Manzanar, or the time period itself had been changed, then the entire story would have been completely different and most likely consisted of less character conflicts. These three pieces of evidence and the conflicts they caused prove that a story’s setting can have a major effect on the outcome of a story’s events.