The Effect Of Relationships In Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet

Everyone remembers their first boyfriend or girlfriend - their first love. Though they may have been short, they will affect the other relationships in their life. In Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford, Henry, a young Chinese teenager, has a Japanese friend, Keiko in 1942, the time of the Japanese Internment. Their friendship grows into a sweet young romance that affects all of Henry’s other relationships throughout his entire life. Although they weren’t even together for a year, Keiko had changed almost all of the other relationships in Henry’s life for many years to come. Ford depicts that one’s first relationship will affect all of one’s other relationships and the rest of their life in Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and

When Henry runs to get the photos, his father threatens to disown him. Henry runs to get the pictures without a second of hesitation. Even after Henry apologizes for doing nothing wrong, Henry’s father whispers to him, “‘Saang jan.’ It meant ‘stranger.’ As in ‘You are a stranger to me’”(Ford 207). Once Henry’s father found out about Keiko, he completely ignored his son. Henry’s first love affected not only the rest of his love life, but the rest of his family life too. Their love for each other affected Henry’s relationship with his father. Henry’s first girlfriend not only affected his relationship with his father, but completely shattered it. Because she was Japanese, and Henry loved her, his father no longer showed Henry that he loved Henry. His first love, Keiko, changed his life forever by destroying the small relationship that he had with his father. It is evident how Henry’s relationship with his father has changed drastically because of his love for

The clerk working at the post office was about his age, and she was always at the stand when Henry dropped off his letters. After never getting anything back from Keiko, he finally gives up and sends his last letter to Keiko. As he hands it over to the girl working there, “The clerk [Ethel] took the letter and attached the twelve-cent overland carriage postage”(Ford 252). His relationship with Keiko not only affects other relationships, but starts them. After Ethel sees a “Return to Sender” stamp put on his last letter to Keiko, Ethel then runs to Henry and also brings him flowers, for she is sorry for him. After Ethel’s gracious gesture, he starts to love her. Henry sending letters to his girlfriend Keiko begins his relationship with Ethel who will one day be his wife. His love for Keiko starts his love for Ethel. Henry’s first love affects him for the rest of his life, for it was Keiko who started the relationship with his future