Themes In Farewell To Manzanar

Words: 1147
Pages: 5
Open Document
Within the process of immoral and unethical acts being done, the identity of those who are persecuted stands to be changed by those who hold control. How the victims choose to react to this change being brought upon them, whether through resistance or acceptance, defines how the identity of that group moving forward. Yet, many times the decision between resistance and acceptance can create division within a community. This duality of resistance versus acceptance is displayed in Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston’s memoir, Farewell to Manzanar. Houston dives into the differing impact that these two responses against oppression hold in regards to identity. Houston emphasis on this theme also provides an understanding of the Japanese-American experience …show more content…
Once the camps closed, Houston and her family were, “… filled with dread” because “the outside world loomed… as someplace inaccessible” (127 & 129). When Houston's family moved to “… a housing project in West Cabrillo”(153) and she began to attend school, she, “… wanted the same acceptance that seemed to come easily,” to her peers (171). Her movement into Western culture, such as being, voted, “… carnival queen”of her high school led to her father, “… [making] a show of resistance” against her development and the life she led (173 & 178). Yet, the author’s acceptance of the Manzanar camp, as well as her upbringing, came once she returned to the Manzanar camp, where she realized she had not solely, “… imagined [or] made the whole thing up,” and that, “… Americans had actually seen the camp” (186 & 187).
Houston examines the contrasting reactions of defiance and acceptance most notably through her experience and perception of the internment camp and the community of the camp.
Amongst the prisoners in the camp, the resistance against the government authorities and all who supported them proves to be the inspiration for the December Riot when, …show more content…
Specifically, with her experience of her coronation during high school, she begins to wonder, “Who had [the students] voted for? Somebody [she] wanted to be. And wasn’t” (182). The self-doubt present in this passage derives from Houston wondering whether the acceptance and desire of fitting in, while simultaneously pushing her past and tradition aside, has led to her solely exemplifying an idealized vision of what people want to see, and not her true self. This concept of identity among those in lower societal standing appears in Hannah Arendt’s, We Refugee’s, as well. Arendt states how refugees lack, “… the courage to fight for a change of social and legal status… so many… try a change of identity” (Arendt 116). However, Arendt describes the dangers associated with that change in that, “… recovering a new personality is as difficult -and as hopeless- as a new creation of the world” (117). Arendt and Houston connect in the way that both speak of the desire from those on the outside, the Other, to assimilate and become one of the many. Yet, in changing identity as a means to no longer feel disconnected from the majority, many refugees and minorities create a disconnect within themselves between the person they truly are and the person they are portraying. Both Houston and Arendt make the claim that in conceding one’s integrity to the majority, there is a simultaneous
Show More

Related Documents: Themes In Farewell To Manzanar

Theme Of Farewell To Manzanar

person in America during Worl War II and the bombing of Pearl Harbor? Throughout the story of Farewell to Manzanar the audience learns what it was like to be a Japanese person during the time of World War II. The audience learns of the struggles they had to go through along with the conditions they lived in. four of the most important literary terms in this story include theme, irony, conflict, and symbolism. Theme is the message the author tries to have you get from the story. Irony is incongruity between…

Words 984 - Pages 4

The Theme Of Prejudice In Farewell To Manzanar

In the autobiography, Farewell to Manzanar, the author conveys the theme of prejudice, physically and mentally. The author shows that the outgroup is damaged physically when Jeanne’s sister-in-law dies giving birth. “They had both hemorrhaged badly… our needs being low on the wartime priority list” (Wakatsuki 118). The author shows that Jeanne’s sister-in-law was bleeding out on the operating table. The doctor should have given her a blood transfusion. Being privileged, he kept the blood for the…

Words 230 - Pages 1

Summary Of Farewell To Manzanar

In Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki, “Why Children Did Not Knock At My Door”by Ifti Nasim, and American Pastime share a common theme of trying to find one’s true identity. The U.S entered World War II fighting against Japan, Germany, and Italy. In 1941 Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. American citizens of Japanese ancestry were seen as a threat. In 1942, President Roosevelt authorized deportation and incarceration of Japanese ancestry. Camps were guarded 24/7 and every family was issued a number…

Words 1158 - Pages 5

NHD Process Paper

NHD theme, we have chosen “Japanese American Rights during WWII” for the Rights and Responsibilities theme. In our English class, we were reading an excerpt from Farewell to Manzanar which is about a Japanese-American family who were deported to various internment camps. We were intrigued that President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 to have the authority to relocate Japanese Americans to internment camps. We thought choosing this topic will be relatable to this year’s theme because…

Words 390 - Pages 2