Introduction
This historical account of the Japanese internment at Manzanar traces its genesis to the World War II. The war had been raging in Europe for three years, Adolf Hitler hoping to capitalize on his war machinery to give the Axis victory. All this while, public opinion about a direct involvement of the US in the war is divided. Japan, hoping to assert its significance in global politics and to advance a claim in the Far East; joins the Axis. The US is alarmed, but an ongoing negotiation with Japanese authorities is an assurance that war is not on the cards just yet. But in a surprising move the Japanese attack the US naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; severely crippling its naval prowess.
Houston’s book, Farewell to Manzanar begins with US President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s declaration of war against Japan; marking an entry of the US to the global war. This memoirs provides a glimpse of the experiences of the Japanese Americans during the period of internment and detention as the war raged on. The title is a reference to the liberation that the narrator feels on account of the physical exit and closing of the camp. It is also a reference to the acknowledgement by the government that it was wrong to take such radical measures. Of note is the compensations awarded to the survivors of the internment camps and the apology issued by President George Bush. Farewell to Manzanar is rendered in a manner that shows the authors ability to pass a message of pain and suffering without engaging the reader in the emotional turmoil that the experience drew. It can be considered as a factual reporting of the events from the eyes of an impartial observer. The narrator and author; Jeanne Wakatsuki is a source of significant admiration. She is the youngest of the Wakatsuki family, and probably the favorite child of Papa. The book is about her observations and commentaries on her family’s experiences during the internment, and the eventual trek to reconciliation at the end of the war. The narrative opens when she is just seven years old, an innocent young girl whose naivety is expressed by her misunderstanding of their reason for being in Manzanar. Her progression to maturity is however meteoritic. She moves from being the naïve little girl to a woman able to understand the true nature of her status as a Japanese America and the challenges this portends. She allows the reader to feel the challenges her family had to endure, the effects of the camp and the prejudice that had bogged many Japanese Americans then.
Character analysis
Jeanne is an intuitive character in this narrative. She is an epitome of gradual development that does not yank a reader from one situation to another. As the narrator of the events in Farewell to Manzanar, she has succeeded in drawing a disconnection between her personal emotional challenges to enable the reader to decipher the same themselves. This unemotional tone is effective as the reader is able to analyze her as a character in the whole set up, rather an independent actor in the story. Jeanne`s perceptions and reflections are the very core of this book. She is the leading protagonist whose absence in the storyline means none-existence of the story. Every other character develops in her very eyes, how she thought of them, the roles they played in the story, and the contributions they made to her development.
Throughout the memoir, Jeanne tries to emphasize that she was only a young girl at the onset of the internment and did not really understand the essence of being in a camp. To her it was one place along the many places the family had to settle. She does not let the inevitable truths that she has to confront later in life to cloud her perceptions while she was young. It is likely that a narrator would possibly try to assume or insinuate a sense of awareness even at a tender age, but her rendering of the events that unfolded in a true fashion demonstrates her honesty and intention to embrace the weaknesses pertinent to every individual. She does not seek to remind her readers about the horrible racial tensions that could have happened alongside. While it is expected that a now maturing Jeanne has come to understand the true nature of the prejudice against her race, she seeks to unwrap it in a manner that does not polarize. She gives a particular example of her trauma while in high school, but even then does not seek to provide a general view that every other white American sought to make her life unbearable. She in fact points out examples of noble intervention that came to their aid during this time, notably the Supreme Court ruling that leads to the closing of the camp. This has a very significant impact on the reader; it is a demonstration that there are individuals whose judgment is not mired by racial affiliations.
This character’s transformation is phenomenal, though not exactly from a naive girl to a radical activist like one would expect. She demonstrates a transition that starts from accepting life as fate would have it. She makes friends innocently while not allowing the underlying fact that the post-war American public still generally views the Japanese Americans with suspicion and contempt. Of a large significance is her realization that it is not Radine’s fault that she is surprised that she can speak English. At that tender age she is beginning to understand that the society she lives in has a prejudiced expectation of her race, and that a break from this is viewed with utter amazement. The second phase of her development comes when she learns that in her school, and community at large, there will always be instances where her status will act as a handicap. She points out that while Radine is a close friend and their abilities are matched, she will always have a head start. This unending pain of having to settle for less in total disregard to one’s ability, leads her to quit school. This is the first true attestation of our heroine’s declaration that she will not take it lying down. But to her, everything has a limit. She knows that education to her is a form of liberation and therefore completing her high remains a priority. This marks her second significant growth. Largely it solidifies the themes of racial divides and the determination to overcome them. In the end she studies journalism and is able to find a way to bring back her experiences to us.
Conclusion
Farewell to Manzanar makes for a very exciting rendering of one’s emotional and painful past. The narrator’s splendidly brings the fundamental challenges that the war brought to the Japanese American. Through characters like Papa and Woody, she is able to give us a glimpse of the diverse effects that such experiences would have on an individual. To some, it will extinguish the loyalty that one once had, it will question their beliefs, and Papa is a typical example. Woody decides to join the American army not to please the public, but to show correct allegiance to a nation that he believes is truly his by birth.
References
Bookcaps. (2011). Farewell to Manzanar: BookCaps Study Guide. New York: BookCaps Study Guides.
Houston, J., & Houston, J. (2002). Farewell to Manzanar: A True Story of Japanese American Experience During and After the World War II Internment. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
