Farewell To Manzanar Essay

Papa, a man without a country
“It is your reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself, that determines how you life’s story will develop” (Dieter F. Uchtdorf). Most people can deal with difficulties, but their reactions to the hardships are different. Only some people can manage their problems. We should try to manage our behaviors in tough situations. If we can deal with our situations, we can overcome difficulties easily. In the story of Farewell to Manzanar written by Jeanne Wakatsuki, the story shows how war can change humans, their life, and their ranks. Although all of the characters of her book face the same problems due to the war and the camps they had to live in, they responded to those situations differently. All of them presented

strength; however, Papa did not really survive as the others did. In Manzanar, Papa is a Japanese-American who was a strong character, but could not persevere through life’s problems. He lost his job, home, and everything that he had before, and he could never actually recover from this harm. He was a proud and independent man who changed not only his physical strength and lifestyle, but also his manner, behavior, and relation in Manzanar.
Papa was a very proud man who suffered physically from the hardships of interrogation and lost his strength consequently. He came from a samurai family, and as a young man, he was full of arrogance. Although Papa was over 50 years old, he was a successful fisherman who was a healthy and physically strong hard worker. He had a happy life, and played an important person in supporting his family, until one day, the US government arrested him. When FBI came, his pride did not allow him to let them come into his own home, and kept them out of the door. He was accused of sending oil to the Japan after Pearl Harbor bombing, a camp where Japanese were kept as enemies for nine months in Fort Lincoln. Although he was not guilty, was arrested by the FBI and his family was have to live in poor barracks in Manzanar. Being arrested and questioned by the US government was such a shame for him that he lost his physical health. Jeanne said, “He had been gone 9 months. He had aged ten years. He looked over 60, gaunt, wilted as his shirt, underweight, learning on that cane and favoring his right leg” (Manzanar, 46). After Papa’s return to the camps, his aged appearance and the shrinkage of his body were very notable to his family that made them to worry about him. During his detention, he lost the mainly important things in his life such as home, family, health, ability, and job, so as a proud man, he lost his pride after being arrested and was broken under the pressure of this hurt.
In the camps, Papa’s lifestyle changed both in a bad and a good way.

When he was arrested, Mama his wife moved all the children to the camp to keep the family safe and together, and this was the beginning of a terrible time. Their home was the safe place for their family, a place to spend time together. But during and after the war, they did not have a home. He changed his job some times, and he preferred to choose a job to made more money. He was with the Japanese culture, which left Japan because he was ashamed of his family’s social status. Before the war, Papa who never gave up and tried to solve troubles. Papa could not continue the same job that he had before the war. He was not the same person with the same abilities. “He kept abusing Mama and there seemed to be on way out of it” (Manzanar, 71). Papa drank heavily and passed out frequently and then abused Mama. He was sad and depressed; he did not leave the barracks. Papa had become weak, learning how to be a cook, a mechanic, a handyman, and he learned some abilities that earlier did not have any time to do that. The second year in camp, the family moved to another barrack by the name of Manzanar with apple trees around it. His birth country was at war with America and he was not protected by the American Constitution because he was not a citizen and he looked like the enemy. After that he was in mental

confusion.
Papa’s behavior and emotions towards Japanese and American people changed during his life in camps due to his problems. The family had difficult situations in Manzanar that they had not before. At Fort Lincoln, he was interviewed because they were suspicious that he would be a Japanese spy. During the interview, there were questions that he did not reply correctly and avoided answering them because he was born in Japan, the country that had recently attacked America, but called the United States his home. After he came back to family from Fort Lincoln, he did not say anything about his experience there. The other campers called Papa “inu” which means spy in Japanese because he was released from Fort Lincoln sooner than any other people. Papa was so loyal to his country. He did not like to be involved in the war because one side was his homeland, and the other side was his residence. They reflected Papa a traitor to his birth country and this was hard on Papa because he was Japanese and the Japanese were hard on the trait of loyalty. Papa was being questioned on his loyalty from people of his culture. The whispering among the campers also added to the shame that Papa had to handle. He did not want to live in a neighborhood with other Japanese American because he did not like to be labeled or grouped in such a way. Papa was a serious man who worked hard for about thirty years, and did not have leisure times. He stayed all day long in the cubicle. Papa was so upset, frustrated and tired. Mama would try to calm them down and Papa would tell her to shut up and hit Granny when she would interfere. Sometime later, he accepted the difficulties, got along with them, and drank less to accept the reality of life. Papa became kinder, and he created rock garden, painting mountains, and made different wooden furniture. When the camp closed, Papa did not want to go since he did not have anywhere to go to. He did not like change in his life, after a while, he started to accept the difficulties that they had to live with. On the other hand, they did not have any money to move, and any place to go. In fact, Manzanar was an ending for Papa. “Papa’s life ended at Manzanar, though he lived for twelve more years after getting out” (Manzanar, 195). Twelve years after they went of camps, Papa died.
In summary, Papa was one of the people in the camps whose his pride made him change both physically and emotionally. Papa and his family were one of the million Japanese Americans whose real problems started after the war ended. Papa’s family experienced how people’s life can change before and after war. Because of a wrong decision that governments make, most of people around the world have to pay for that. This was the motive why Jeanne made up her mind to write this book. Most of the time, we cannot predict what happens later. People’s responses are varieties in facing with the same situations. Some can overcome difficulties, but others may give up and change for the worse. Sometimes hardship change people. In fact, some changes are harder to know. The hope of life, gives us a new energy to face problems and try to solve them.
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