Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet Summary

I am reading Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford and I am on page 223. This book is a two-sided story of a man named Henry; his life as a young boy during the war times, and him as a old man, recently widowed. As a young Chinese boy, he does not fit into his all-white prep school or his society, but one day he meets a Japanese girl named Keiko. They instantly become best friends, however their friendship is difficult as the war times have caused the Chinese and Japanese to be enemies, and eventually Keiko’s family is forced out of Seattle and into a military camp. As an old man, Henry reflects on his life and the damage that was caused by the Japanese internment. In this journal I will be evaluating and predicting.
Henry

Lee is a very selfless and strong man in the both parts of life portrayed in the book. As a young boy, he befriends Keiko regardless of the fact that she’s Japanese and that Henry has been taught their the enemy.

Henry is extremely selfless and agrees to take the photographs and possessions of Keiko’s family to save them, even though he is putting his family in great danger if they are found. When Keiko’s family is sent to “Camp Harmony,” Henry is selfless enough to spend his own money and buy extra supplies for her family as well as a birthday present for Keiko. Eventually, Henry’s father discovers his relationship and is furious. Henry then makes a huge sacrifice and defends Keiko, causing his father to disown him. Henry says “I am what you made me, father...I am an American” and storms off, destroying their relationship (Ford, 185). As an old man, Henry is selfless as well. While his wife, Ethel, was suffering with cancer, Henry took complete care of her, and put all of her needs

before his. He always is polite and caring towards his son, even if they have some disagreements. He also reveals his past with Keiko to his son, which was a hard thing for him to do, but he knew it was best for his son to know. Henry is a very tough person as well. He dealt with massive amounts of discrimination as a boy, but had to fight through it. School brought lots of bullying and he was beat up several times. Especially when Keiko was gone, he was very lonely and isolated, but had to keep his head up. He tried to keep a good attitude and look on the bright side. Keiko was his motivation and gave him something to look forward to. He stayed strong throughout the war times and never gave up on anything, regardless of how hard it was.
Although the relationship between Keiko and Henry is complicated and difficult, I predict it will continue.

After Keiko’s family got moved from Camp Harmony, Keiko stopped writing and their relationship weakened as she got farther away. However, Henry turns 13 and decides he is old enough to make his own decisions, so he travels all the way to Minidoka, Idaho to visit her. Here they talk and kiss for the first time. My prediction for after this is that they will continue to keep in touch for a while. Hopefully Keiko will have the means to write to Henry, so they can keep in touch and communicate. Maybe Henry will even come visit again. However, we learn from the perspective of the older Henry, that the relationship does not last forever. Keiko might end up moving again, but either way we know that Henry ended up getting married to someone else that he loved. Now that he is a old man and a widow, it is possible that he might reconnect with Keiko. After he found a broken record and some of her family’s belongings in the basement of the Panama hotel, Henry may go and return them. This might lead them to converse and learn about what happened in their lives after they lost touch. Maybe, just maybe, they could fall in love once again. They clearly loved and cared about each other as kids, so they might reconnect and their relationship will last until the

end.
I would have to give myself 13/14 because I thought I gave very strong main points and in-depth details. I also had pretty well written transitions and grammar.