Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford talks about the main character, Henry Lee at two points in his life. One in 1942, when he is a twelve year-old with a crush on a Japanese girl, and the other which is in 1986, when his wife recently died. The book is set in Seattle, Washington. The story frequently alternates between the two time periods. The 1942 chapters talk about what happens after of Pearl Harbor. The people of Asian descent feel discriminated against and afraid. At home, Henry’s traditional Chinese parents, who know very little english, forbid him to speak anything but English, because they are afraid he will be mistaken for Japanese and related to the people everybody is after. At the school Henry attends on a scholarship, …show more content…
he is the only Asian student in a school of all Caucasian students. He is often made fun of by the students. After a new Japanese student named Keiko joins the school, Henry and her become the best of friends. Since Keiko is Japanese, she gets sent away to the internment camps. Though many efforts to try and visit her in the camps, Henry lets her go after she stopped responding to the letters he sent. Later on Henry finds out that his dad had sabotaged the letter and took them before they reached Keiko because he did not want Henry to have anything to do with a Japanese person. In the 1986 chapters of the novel, It talks about Henry after his wife recently passed away. Henry takes an early retirement from his job at Boeing to take care of his wife with cancer, Ethel, in her last few months. After she passes, Henry realizes that he has too much free time. As Henry is walking he sees a crowd and wonders what is going on. As he approaches the scene, he notices there is a news conference going on past the Panama Hotel. They found the belongings of thirty seven Japanese families in the basement of the hotel. Henry takes his son. Marty, and Marty’s fiance, Samantha, to look through the items to see if they could find anything that belongs to Keiko or her family. He finds a sketchbook that belongs to Keiko and a broken record that she gave to Henry as a thanks for helping her and her family. As Henry is looking, he begins to rethink the past. He tells Marty about his relationship with Keiko. After Henry tells him the story, Marty and Samantha help Henry get to New York City to be reunited with Keiko. The Asian American experience that the novel illuminates is how Asians were strongly hated and discriminated against because of the war. While Henry was serving lunch at his school along Keiko people say racist comments like “ ‘Heck, I bet you two are related!’” (Ford 32). No matter if you are Japanese or Chinese in the Caucasian eye you are ‘Asian’. It also shows the sense of isolation of the Asian people from the Caucasian people. Henry “was accepted at the all-white school at the far end of Yesler Way.” (Ford 24). The schools as were many other things at the time were either all Asian or all white. The novel depicts the conflicts between Chinese and American culture very differently than John Okada does in “No-No Boy”. In “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” the Chinese long to be a part of the American culture and fight over udallal 3 who gets to send their kid to an all-white American school. In “No-No Boy” characters such as Mrs. Yamada long to return back to Japan and to see everyone be a part of the Japanese culture. Mrs. Yamada sees any Japanese who considers themselves as a part of the American culture as dead in her eyes. Henry’s father does not want him to speak Cantonese any more. His father says that “‘No more. Only speak you American.’” (Ford 22). Ichiro desires to be known as an American rather as a Japanese. Henry would rather be allowed to speak Chinese for the reason that he does not understand why he is not allowed to speak what he considers to be his native language. The two novels carry some similarities as well.
In both there is strong dislike towards the Asians. They are looked down upon. In both “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” and “No-No Boy”, the main characters both have strange relationships with their parents. In “No-No Boy” Ichiro believes that his parents are somewhat of cowards. He believes and tells his mom that “You’re Crazy” (Okada 14) for not realizing that has Japan lost the war. His father is a very imperturbable person so Ichiro does not have too many problems with him. In “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet”, Henry is very polite to his parents but he does not understand or agree with their decision making. For example when Henry’s father told him to only speak english, Henry believes that “This makes no sense, he thought. My father’s pride has finally got the better of him. ‘M-ming bak?’ Henry asked in perfect Cantonese. ‘I don’t understand.’” (Ford 21). In “No-No Boy”, Ichiro wished to go back in time and put his loyalty in America instead of answering “no” to keep his loyalty for Japan. Ichiro’s mother was very nationalistic to her country, Japan. When Ichiro tried convincing …show more content…
his mother that Japan had lost the war she responded with ‘“You believe that?” It was said in a tone of an adult asking a child who is not longer a child if he really believed Santa Claus was real” (Okada 13).
In “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet”, Henry is sort of confused for the reason that he does not fully understand at the time what is going on. He does not want to stop speaking his native language, Cantonese, but his parents make him. Henry’s loyalty does not lie just within a country. It lies also with Keiko. Henry is very loyal to Keiko. For example when he helps hide their families pictures so the do not get taken. Henry is also loyal to Ethel. During the novel after Ethel dies, Henry does not search for Keiko immediately because he did not think it would be fair to Ethel. Both novels display different ways of conveying the message of the role heritage and tradition plays in the characters lives. In essence, “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” and “No-No Boy” has many similarities and also many differences. The biggest being that one is from a Chinese point of view and the other is from a Japanese point of view. Both books talk about the Asian- American experience and the difficulties they faced.
The novels both have different opinions on culture and loyalty to their nation. “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” follows a boy named Henry who would rather keep and speak the language of his country, rather than his parents who force him to speak English and send him to an all-white school. In “No-No Boy” Ichiro would rather consider himself an American rather than what his parents want him to be, a nationalistic Japanese. Both loyalties are put in different places. For “No-No Boy” it would be put within the countries and in “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” it would be put in culture and the people surrounding.
Henry was insisted that he and Keiko will reunite after the war ends. The war ended in 1945 and unfortunately Henry was not able to see Keiko. However, Henry still had faith that one day he will see her again and he did. After forty years of waiting, Henry met with Keiko again. When Henry met Keiko in 1986 he was an old fifty-six years man and they communicated like they haven’t left each other all those years.
Henry's relationship with his father was rough to say the least, but it did help shape him into the person he was . The two of them never really saw eye to eye. His father, who grew up in China, had very strong opinions about opinions against the Japanese. When Henry told him about his Japanese friend Keiko, he did not
depressed and could barely function. Henry's state of mind is so bad that one night when
Derek Jeter’s young years were helped by his parents. When Derek was 5 years old, Derek moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan with his parents. His Dad was a counselor for drugs/alcohol, while his mom is an accountant. Derek and his sister were big baseball fans as kids. In 8th grade, Jeter predicted he would be in a New York Yankees uniform by age 18. Derek’s had already built his legendary confidence in the young years of grade school. Jeter attended St. Augustine Cathedral School in Kalamazoo. “He was one of those kids you just never forget,” recalled his teacher Shirley Garzelloni, “and I would say that even if he wasn’t still playing baseball.” Jeter’s character was built up well even at a young age.
Eddie, died. Henry, the father's youngest son, has sort of, became the man of family. Henry works
Henry's first-person narrative is the most important element of these stories. Through it he recounts the events of his life, his experiences with others, his accomplishments and troubles. The great achievement of this narrative voice is how effortlessly it reveals Henry's limited education while simultaneously demonstrating his quick intelligence, all in an entertaining and convincing fashion. Henry introduces himself by introducing his home-town of Perkinsville, New York, whereupon his woeful g...
In the end, Henry does give up on Keiko too easily. Henry has a chance before and after 40 years, but his final decisions are still the same, letting Keiko go. Henry could have prevented the separation from happening and breaks Ethels heart, but as a soft-hearted person, Henry does just the opposite. He moves on with his life with Ethel and forgets about Keiko. Henry thought that his decisions are what is best and what is right for the both Henry and Keiko. Although reunited at the end of the book, does not suggest that Henry does not give up on Keiko too easily, because the book always have a sweetness along with bitterness.
Henry for himself is when he is alone. He seems to stop acting and let
Henry’s father is on his death bed; his last words are to Henry: “Wo wi ni zuo,” which translates to “I did it for you,” (Ford 263). For months Henry had sent letters to Keiko and seldom got a reply which lead him to believe that Keiko had lost interest in him and that she had moved on. This caused him much distress and disappointment. Upon hearing
...s inner self. What is seen as a relationship amongst these two young men is now torn apart by the transformation of Henry caused from his witnesses during warfare.
Henry’s father, a strict, war-obsessed man essentially dictates Henry’s life, distancing the two as Henry continues to oppose his father’s views. Because of his father’s controlling ways, there is little love to be lost between the father and son. This animosity between them can be seen when Henry is about to leave his apartment to retrieve the family photos of his Japanese friend Keiko. His father tells him that should Henry leave to help Keiko, he “[is] no longer part of this family” (Ford 185).
Henry crosses the line to insanity he has flirted with for so long, merging with the players in his novel, and leaves no indication that a world outside the game exists. However, the possibility does exist that Henry has not merged with his players, but rather the game has taken on a life of its own.
Henry suffers from retrograde amnesia due to internal bleeding in the part of the brain that controls memory. This causes him to forget completely everything he ever learned. His entire life is forgotten and he has to basically relearn who he was, only to find he didn’t like who he was and that he didn’t want to be that person. He starts to pay more attention to his daughter and his wife and starts to spend more time with them.
Henry’s character is introduced in the movie when his cousin Mark, who is just about the same age as him, suddenly comes to stay with their family because his father had to go away on business. Mark’s mother recently passed away right in front of his eyes and he was still dealing with the repercussions of it all. Dealing with feelings of loneliness, Mark immediately developed a close bond with Henry. He found Henry to be adventurous and nice but was not aware of who Henry really was and what he was experiencing. At first, Henry seemed like a decent young boy who enjoyed experimenting with new things. On ...
The novel also highlights the passionate relationship between Henry and Catherine Barkley, a British nurse in Italy. Henry’s insight into the war and his intense love for Catherine emphasize that love and war are the predominant themes in the novel and these themes contribute to bringing out the implicit and explicit meaning of the novel. Being a part of the Italian army, Henry is closely involved with the war and has developed an aversion to the war. Henry’s association with the war has also made him realise that war is inglorious and the sacrifices made in war are meaningless. Specifically, Henry wants the war to end because he is disillusioned by the war and knows that war is not as glorious as it is made up to be.