Usefulness can be defined as when something is entertaining. In Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, I will explore how the book is useful for entertaining. As the name suggests, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is a bittersweet novel that contains heavy themes of discrimination, coming of age, and young love. The book will be useful to anyone seeking a feel-good love story tempered with tragedy. This book deals with heavy themes of racism, which contrasts with the almost whimsical feel of the relationship between the two main characters, Henry and Keiko. It is immediately made clear that Henry being friends with a Japanese American will be heavily frowned upon by his father, who is a Chinese nationalist. When Henry's …show more content…
Your people. d. 183. The blatant racism displayed in this particular part of the book is alarming. It is a pivotal moment foreshadowed throughout the Henry's novel, and it is clear from Henry's set that Henry's father will not react positively to Henry's special relationship with Keiko due to his background as a Chinese nationalist. This moment sets off the chain of events that forms the basis of the conflict between Henry and his father. Despite his desire to be his father, Henry feels rejected by him because of his prejudiced views. In his attempt to protect his son, Henry's father unintentionally causes him pain, creating an intriguing dynamic that keeps the reader engaged. Henry pursued her despite his father's disapproval of his relationship with Keiko. Adversity struck their relationship early on when Keiko was interned in a camp near Seattle and later relocated to one in Idaho. Henry spent his entire life saving to visit her, leading to a heartwarming moment amidst the gloom and doom of the book. "He was leaning in, his forehead pressed against the cold metal wire; if there was something sharp there, he didn't feel it. All he felt was Keiko's cheek, wet from the rain, as she leaned in
I know the theme is acceptance strengthens bonds between family and friends.Because the text says Henry is on lunch duty in his all white school when he is joined by a Japanese girl named Keiko. At first, he is dumbfounded but slowly starts to accept her as the other white kids are teasing them. They share a can of peaches in the school pantry and Henry enjoys his time with her very much. A quote from the text Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet says “Then they ate their lunch, together, splitting a can of pears in the storage room. Henry thought they tasted especially good that day.” These sentences have a much deeper meaning than they appeared to have. The moment Henry and Keiko shared in the storage room was the blossom of their friendship.
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
In these five paragraphs I will be writing about the book “Hotel on the Corner of Sweet and Bitter” written by Jamie Ford and five quotation that important and made up the theme for me. This book gives a feel a lot of different emotions. The first quote was “‘You are Chinese aren’t you,Henry? That’s fine. Be who you are, she said, turning away, a look of disappointment in her eyes. “But I’m an American’’(p. 60). This quote is important because it shows how Keiko believes even if her parents are Japanese she feels more American then Japanese since she barely spoke Japanese.
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.
On one end he was ignored by his parents and even disowned, and on the other he was being constantly bullied and put down by his peers who were in their words “fighting the yellow menace”. But one day at school, he encounters a nice, Japanese girl named Keiko Okabe. Keiko and Henry seemed to click almost immediately. This is most likely because they had so much in common. They were both ridiculed horribly in public and by their own peers at school, they both had similar interests, and most importantly they both put aside their ethic pasts and acknowledged that they were indeed American. “That’s where I was born too. I’m Japanese, but American first” (Ford 24). Unlike Henry’s family who refuses to put off their Chinese heritage, Keiko and her family have fully embraced the fact that they are full Americans now and take part fully in American culture. This is shown through the Okabe’s love of jazz or the “colored” music as Henry’s father disdainfully calls. Also, Keiko doesn't even speak Japanese. She only learned English because that what Americans speak and she is American. Henry’s relationship with keiko also brought him out of his shell and showed a new side to his character. Whereas with his father and Marty Henry is quiet and in the background, with Keiko, Henry is much more confident and much more outgoing. He is even willing to smuggle illegal alcohol into a colored jazz club and spend a
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
Clive Barker, the author of The Thief of Always, writes a fantasy about Harvey(the main character) taken into into a place full of illusions. Soon he finds out that there was this horrible Hood that had taken his precious time and almost has eaten his soul. So, Harvey then tries to destroy this evil Hood who ends up to be the oh so perfect house. Hood is evil and different ways he is evil. There are many things that makes someone or something truly evil. Hood is ultimately evil. These are the things that make him who or what he is. Evil is significant to most stories because that is the major conflict. The antagonist, Hood, does a really good job of being the bad guy. Usually it’s a person who is has some kind of kindness inside,
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).
It is undeniable that human struggle is relative. It is relative to one’s background, life experiences, and strength- and at some point everyone is faced with an obstacle that they feel incapable of overcoming. In Surviving Hell written by Leo Thorsness, the author is captured after a mid-flight ejection in the Vietnam War. He spent years undergoing torture and solitary confinement, not knowing if he would make it out alive. Physically shattered, his spirits remained strong. Several events take place throughout the novel that ultimately kept Leo afloat. The significance of the church service, walking home, and Mike’s flag lies outside of their surface meaning, but in the mental battles won that propelled Leo and the other soldiers to do more
The long journey on planet earth known as life has it ups and downs, growing up as a young individual in today’s world is an obvious rollercoaster. The characters of Phoebe and Theo, are two young girls who endured completely different lives in the books The Hollow Tree, and Awake and Dreaming although they did encounter some similarities throughout their stories. The two children encountered similar family complications, utilised similar coping mechanisms to escape reality, and both became more assertive over their lifespans in the novels. These two novels offer young females readers a logical view on how tough life can get, and how the readers can overcome similar complications they have in their personal lives, while doing all this generating
Suspense is a 1913 film that portrays the story of a tramp intruding into a family’s home, where a mother takes care of her child while her husband is away. The plot is a common one that had been used previous times before the film’s release, such as in The Lonely Villa (1909). However, through taking advantage of the single frame shot, the filmmakers were able to create a masterful aesthetic of two separate stories that turn a basic plot into a complex story. The film created an inventive way of illustrating stories within cinema by allowing the audience the chance to consume more narrative in less time within just one take.
In The Way to Rainy Mountain, the author Scott Momaday uses the theme of a journey to drive this story. He begins his journey after the passing of his grandmother, the journey to reconnect and rediscover his own culture. He shares this moment on page 10, “I remember her most often in prayer. She made long, rambling prayers out of suffering and hope, having seen many things…the last time I saw her she prayed standing by the side of her bed at night, naked to the waist, the light of a kerosene lamp moving upon her dark skin…I do not speak Kiowa, and I never understood her prayers, but there was something inherently sad in the sound, some merest hesitation upon the syllables of sorrow”. The passing brought a realization upon him to have to keep the culture going. He can barely speak Kiowa, while his grandmother was one of the few members who were completely fluent. I believe this book is a call out to his tribe to take the same journey Momaday took.
...a of what his life would have been had he been born and raised by an American Family. This shows that he has been trying to run away from the shadow of his own Culture in an effort to gain acceptance in the American Culture. However, his unruly behavior might have resulted due to the lack of support from his family especially his father. His father’s determination of trying to keep him bounded to the Korean tradition and values might have what actually pushed Henry away. For example, when Henry decides to take an American girl to the Spring Dance, his father justifies her interest in her son due his financial background. He says to Henry, “You real dummy, Henry. Don’t you know? You just free dance ticket. She just using you” (Pg. 74). This illustrates that Henry has been struggling to gain his father’s respect and approval in him but was never able to achieve that.
...uses the reader to be more invested in the story and therefore truly strive to understand the world portrayed instead of just shallowly absorbing the setting. This is a strength because it gave the reader unique outlook on the Asian cultures because the audience feels personally involved in these situations. There are a few weaknesses in the book. I think perhaps, by putting the audience in these men’s shoes you cause them develop a bias. The reader will possibly have and emotional tie to the characters and because of this not see straight facts of history. The book is highly recommended to readers interested in pre-modern history, the book is a good look into the eastern world especially if one lacks research experience with that part of the world and its history.
In Kew Gardens, Virginia Woolf takes advantage of the liminal quality of the short story in order to highlight the suspended world that she creates in the garden. For Woolf, the lyrical short story’s subversion of traditional narrative structure allows her to focus on creating a world rather than a plot. Further, the short story creates a liminal space by the very nature of its form. Caught in a space where it is not considered a poem or a novel, the short story exists as undefined. The liminality of the short story, however, is both liberating and restricting. Woolf explores this feature in order to suggest the unsustainable nature of Kew Gardens. While Woolf utilizes the form of the short story to create a liminal, impressionistic space that eradicates the boundaries between human and nature, she also uses the transitory quality of the short story to suggest that such a space can only exist for a short duration due to the restrictions of the imposing outside world.