Theme
Belonging
As the narrator of Farewell to Manzanar, Jeanne describes events in an observation way, lack of emotions, to keep factual accounts of the events separate from her emotions. The story contains a lot of information, and between these facts Jeanne tells us what she thinks of them now. Throughout the memoir, Jeanne gives us the progress of her life from girl to teenage to woman. The work is a way for her to come to terms with herself. When she was a child, she is unaware of her ethnic. When moving to Terminal Island, Jeanne's instant sense of alienation among other Japanese makes us aware that she considers herself more American than Japanese. She doesn't speak Japanese. The deterioration of her family in Manzanar camp leaves her free to explore, but also leaves her without a guide and mentor. Life in Manzanar becomes a typical all-American town with football teams, yearbooks, jive bands, and school dances. Wakatsuki raises the question of how America and how Japanese they really are. The young Niseis (2nd generation of Japanese immigrants) likes Jeanne and her brothers are becoming more and more American. Jeanne begins interest in American hobbies and Catholicism and almost being baptized. She wants to belong in or to something. Jeanne's experiences with prejudice in her school life after the war makes her question herself what is her true identity. She doesn't want to treat as an outsider. She said, "I smiled and sat down, suddenly aware of what being of Japanese ancestry was going to be like. I wouldn’t be faced with physical attack, or with overt shows of hatred. Rather, I would be seen as someone foreign, or as someone other than American, or perhaps not be seen at all". The girl of her dream is blonde and beautiful, admired by all. The girl of her dream is an American girl. That shows Jeanne's desire for acceptance. She said, "I feel no malice toward this girl. I don’t even envy her. Watching, I am simply
emptied, and in the dream I want to cry out, because she is something I can never be, some possibility in my life that can never be fulfilled". Her inability to achieve her goals makes her want to scream, but she does not cry out, which shows that she accepts prejudice against those of Japanese ancestry as a simple fact of life.
Her father, Papa, like most first generation of Japanese immigrant in America, struggles to reconcile the American and Japanese customs and characteristics. He is an alien without citizenship, but he believes in the American dream. Japan is his country of birth but America is his country of choice. Which country does he belong ? Which one does he cry for when he said that "I weep every night for my country". His comparison of the war between Japan and America to a quarrel between parents indicate that the war is personnel to him, and he cannot commit to one side or the other because he belongs to both countries. His frequent relocate his family also indicates that he could not find a root anywhere.
Jeanne's father tries to understand his son's, Woody, American roots, and Woody comes to understand Papa's Japanese dignity. Jeanne comes to terms with her own identity and faces the prejudice of postwar America.
Jeanne said, "Papa’s life ended at Manzanar.… Until this trip I had not been able to admit that my own life really began there". Jeanne realizes that the time in Manzanar made her as she is now, a strong person. Manzanar weakened her father and left him unable to cope with life outside the camp. His life can hardly be called a life.
As the narrator of Farewell to Manzanar, Jeanne describes events in an observation way, lack of emotions, to keep factual accounts of the events separate from her emotions. The story contains a lot of information, and between these facts Jeanne tells us what she thinks of them now. Throughout the memoir, Jeanne gives us the progress of her life from girl to teenage to woman. The work is a way for her to come to terms with herself. When she was a child, she is unaware of her ethnic. When moving to Terminal Island, Jeanne's instant sense of alienation among other Japanese makes us aware that she considers herself more American than Japanese. She doesn't speak Japanese. The deterioration of her family in Manzanar camp leaves her free to explore, but also leaves her without a guide and mentor. Life in Manzanar becomes a typical all-American town with football teams, yearbooks, jive bands, and school dances. Wakatsuki raises the question of how America and how Japanese they really are. The young Niseis (2nd generation of Japanese immigrants) likes Jeanne and her brothers are becoming more and more American. Jeanne begins interest in American hobbies and Catholicism and almost being baptized. She wants to belong in or to something. Jeanne's experiences with prejudice in her school life after the war makes her question herself what is her true identity. She doesn't want to treat as an outsider. She said, "I smiled and sat down, suddenly aware of what being of Japanese ancestry was going to be like. I wouldn’t be faced with physical attack, or with overt shows of hatred. Rather, I would be seen as someone foreign, or as someone other than American, or perhaps not be seen at all". The girl of her dream is blonde and beautiful, admired by all. The girl of her dream is an American girl. That shows Jeanne's desire for acceptance. She said, "I feel no malice toward this girl. I don’t even envy her. Watching, I am simply
emptied, and in the dream I want to cry out, because she is something I can never be, some possibility in my life that can never be fulfilled". Her inability to achieve her goals makes her want to scream, but she does not cry out, which shows that she accepts prejudice against those of Japanese ancestry as a simple fact of life.
Her father, Papa, like most first generation of Japanese immigrant in America, struggles to reconcile the American and Japanese customs and characteristics. He is an alien without citizenship, but he believes in the American dream. Japan is his country of birth but America is his country of choice. Which country does he belong ? Which one does he cry for when he said that "I weep every night for my country". His comparison of the war between Japan and America to a quarrel between parents indicate that the war is personnel to him, and he cannot commit to one side or the other because he belongs to both countries. His frequent relocate his family also indicates that he could not find a root anywhere.
Jeanne's father tries to understand his son's, Woody, American roots, and Woody comes to understand Papa's Japanese dignity. Jeanne comes to terms with her own identity and faces the prejudice of postwar America.
Jeanne said, "Papa’s life ended at Manzanar.… Until this trip I had not been able to admit that my own life really began there". Jeanne realizes that the time in Manzanar made her as she is now, a strong person. Manzanar weakened her father and left him unable to cope with life outside the camp. His life can hardly be called a life.