Compare And Contrast Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet By Jamie Ford

Set in the turmoil of WW2, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is a love of bitterness and sweetness book involving a Japanese girl, Keiko, and a Chinese boy, Henry. They strives to keep their relationship and deal with the consequences inflicted upon them by their parents and the war. As the story rolls along, many thoughts occurred that Henry and Keiko would be able to marry, but a twist happens, which results in their separation; unquestionably, Henry and Keiko moves on to have their own family.Therefore, does Henry gives up on Keiko too easily? Yes, Henry give up on Keiko too easily. Henry has his chance of going back to Keiko, but he let it slips by. He tries to forget about Keiko and moves on with his life. Henry thought that his

The novel “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet,” written by Jamie Ford is a compelling novel about a young Chinese American boy name Henry. Henry is growing up after the Pearl Harbor incident and the start of the internment camps for Japanese Americans. Henry’s ethnicity as a Chinese American affects his childhood in being bulled in school, having a distant relationship with his parents, and causes issues with his first love Keiko, a Japanese American girl.

Nineteen forty one. The year thousands of Japanese and Americans remember. The year that the United States had finally declared war on the Empire of Japan after Pearl Harbor attacks. Thousands of Japanese-Americans put inside austere camps, hoping one day the war can end and their freedom begin. In the two works, Farewell to Manzanar by James D. Houston and Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie For, each portrays the struggles throughout the certain time period. Farewell to Manzanar presents the topic by using a series of dated journal entries, while Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet presents it as a topic and time period, with flashbacks to present day and the past. While both works depict the

Jamie Ford’s book "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet," is a story about the experiences and hardships that Japanese-Americans suffered during World War II. The protagonist Henry, a twelve-year old Chinese-American boy at the time of the war, reacted with more than just curiosity. The story opens with the news that belongings of several families who were interned is more than just curiosity; he had a deep personal connection to the events of the past and the story uncovers his memories. Henry had done a good job of burying his forgotten dreams, much like the artifacts found in the basement of the Panama Hotel. But just as in real life, when people try to ignore past events, the truth that lies in their heart cannot be denied. Sometimes, it can be something simple, like a parasol, to unlock those truths, but in Hotel, certain objects unlock the symbolism of life itself. Objects are powerful, as they represent not only moments in time, but people 's emotions, motivations, and ultimately, their identity.

Leaving the comforts of the first world, Jessica Alexander abandons her job, fiancé, family, and home to venture into the misleading volunteer work of Humanitarian aid. Chasing Chaos: My Decade In and Out of Humanitarian Aid by Jessica Alexander is a conglomeration of stories that are written from Jessica’s memory. “It is a true account based on [Jessica’s] best recollections of the events and [her] experiences.”.

For all of the ups and downs of Henry Lee’s life he makes his life good with his love and friendship. Jamie Ford wants to get the reader's attention on friendship by writing Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. Henry’s life was a wild, crazy, and hectic he was shunned out by his family just because he was being a good friend. Friendship is something that people can not live without. Just like Henry did a lot of things just so his friend can be happy, he showed that his friendship meant a lot to him knowing there was consequences.

In Jamie Ford’s historical fiction Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, this split narrative focuses on two eras: 1942 and 1986. Within these era’s, Ford’s novel focuses on a Chinese boy, Henry Lee, and what it was like to grow up in the international district with prejudice everywhere, especially in his own family being a first generation American. His novel tells the story of Henry, as well as a Japanese girl by the name of Keiko. The novel tells the story of these two young friends and the hardships faced when the government sends Keiko and her family away to the Japanese internment camps in the Northwest in the 1940’s. His novel displays the effects

The experience is different for everyone since the experience relies on what you are and where you are at that time. Whether it is being Jewish in Germany or being a Japanese American in the United States, people still go through that difficult experience. In Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, Keiko is trying her hardest to get through the hatred towards her and her family. The discrimination also affects the people around her such as Henry, who is a Chinese kid that is friends with Keiko. Later in the story, there is a scene where Henry tries to buy something. The clerk did not react very well because of how he looked. The author, Jamie Ford, wrote “The clerk stood there, her fist dug into her hip. ‘We don't serve people like you—besides, my husband is off fighting…’ ‘I'll buy it,’ Henry said, putting his ‘I Am Chinese’ button on the counter next to Keiko's two dollars. ‘I said, I'll buy it please’” (114). This scene shows how people quickly jumped to assumptions without any real proof; just like the government when they sent all those Japanese Americans to internment camps. Later throughout the story, Keiko and Henry become apparent of the Internment Camps and how the Japanese are forcibly being sent there. The issue thickens as later in the book, Jamie Ford states “Henry looked at the paper in Keiko’s hand. The bolt type screamed INSTRUCTIONS TO ALL PERSON OF JAPANESE ANCESTRY. It was all about Japanese families being forced to evacuate for their own safety” (124). As Henry panics, he tells his family about everything and how they are sending his friend away. Japanese families are being sent away without any reason at all. The people sending them away are assuming that they had a part of the bombing. Obviously, his father does not care and it results in further tension between the two. Henry becomes furious at his dad and declares he had enough. He does the impossible for

According to the novel Farewell to Manzanar, “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” (158). After the bombing at Pearl Harbor, the government saw all Japanese-Americans as enemies even though most, if not all of them, had done nothing wrong. They were taken from their homes and send to awful internment camps where they were treated as prisoners. The Japanese-Americans stayed in the camps four years, just because of where they come from. During this time Americans completely turned against the Japanese people living in their country and bombarded the news with anti-Japanese propaganda which showed how much racial discrimination there was, even back in the 1940s. While Farewell to Manzanar explores this concept, there are many questions in which the reader is left with. First, the Japanese-American Internment was fueled by more than war time panic, which reveals the question: what role did prejudice play in the Japanese-American Relocation? Then, there is the question: what modern day connections can you make with this time in American history? Lastly, this story leaves the reader with the question: do you think something like this could happen today? Farewell to Manzanar gives a glimpse of the lives of Japanese-Americans in the 1940s and

The autobiography illustrates personal experiences of discrimination and prejudice while also reporting the political occurrences during the United States’ involvement in World War II. After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the United States government unleashed unrestrained contempt for the Japanese residing in the nation. The general public followed this train of thought, distrusting the Japanese and treating them like something less than human. In a country of freedom and justice, no coalition stepped up to defend the people who had lived there most of or all of their lives; rather, people took advantage of the Japanese evacuation to take their property and belongings. The government released demeaning propaganda displaying comical Japanese men as monsters and rats, encouraging the public to be vigilant and wary toward anyone of Japanese descent. The abuse of the Japanese during this period was taken a little too lightly, the government apologizing too late and now minor education of the real cruelty expressed toward the nation’s own citizens. Now we see history repeating itself in society, and if we don’t catch the warning signs today, history may just come full

Maya Angelou once said, “I can be changed by what happens to me, but I refuse to be reduced by it.” This quote encompasses the idea that change is inevitable. A person is involved in numerous relationships during their lifetime and what happens within them can change who they become in the future. Within the novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, the relationships that Henry Lee has developed throughout his lifetime have shaped him into the person he is today.

Morning”. In one of these, a young girl is put down because of the color of her skin, and

“Culture is the place where people draw on common resources to affirm, contest, negotiate, understand, and legitimize social practices/government policies” (Cosgrove). Historians rely on culture to understand the social structure and way of life from times past. American culture, as perceived in “The Kiss," is a white society nationalistic and sacred to the foundation of the country. In World War II, African American soldiers fight as hard as the whites, but their skin tone keeps their bravery and heroism from America’s eyes. Discrimination against Japanese, Italians, and Germans continues relentlessly – from “Anti-Japanese Movements, alien prohibition laws, and Immigrations Acts (1924)… oppression against immigrants and anyone not considered ‘Anglo-Saxon’ [is] not welcomed” (Ng 29). These are only a few of many ways the

Literature is defined as written works published on a particular subject. Literature can also be viewed as witness, because it can be a source of proof based on the events it was written on. Literature as witness allows readers to get a deeper understanding of the issues that have happened based off of what the books are about. Those who read literary texts such as historical novels, memoirs and novels are witness to historical events. These texts can be viewed as witness because the events mentioned are based off of true life events. Some may argue historical fiction is not real and therefore could not be viewed as a reliable source. Even though historical fiction is made up of fictional characters, the conflicts that are mentioned are based

For centuries, white Europeans and Americans have mostly been the dominant race, and white influence can be seen imposed in many different places. In A Small Place by Jamaica Kinkaid, Kinkaid talks about a hypothetical vacation to Antigua where the author narrates the activities and thoughts of the reader when traveling through the country. In James Baldwin’s piece “From Notes of a Native Son”, he gives an autobiography describing his relationship with his father and living as a black man in the Harlem. In their experiences, they both have a mutual hatred towards white people because they were the dominating oppressive force in their lives, and their mutual goal is to back against this oppressive force to achieve and break free past their own societal standards. Although each writer proposes different strategies to avoid the same fate, they both have the same driving force to pursue social justice for their culture, and they both want to disprove that they are what they were once destined to be – to fall under the fate by social reproduction reinforced by white oppressors.