Farewell to Manzanar: A True Story of Japanese American Experience During and After the World War II Internment

“He didn’t struggle. There was no point to it. He had become a man without a country. The land of his birth was at war with America; yet after thirty-five years here he was still prevented by law from becoming an American citizen. He was suddenly a man with no rights who looked exactly like the enemy.”

Shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, FBI agents take Papa away. His American identity is fragile, as his Japanese ancestry bars him from citizenship; however, he is too proud to fight and lets the agents take him for interrogation. This passage helps establish the theme of Japanese American Identity.

“None of these kids actually attacked. It was the threat that frightened us, their fearful looks and the noises they would make, like miniature Samurai, in a language we couldn’t understand.”

Jeanne reflects on her fear of her new peers—and thus Fear of the Unknown—on Terminal Island. Jeanne is frightened not only because she doesn’t know them but also because she doesn’t understand their Japanese dialect or their tough demeanor. Interestingly, Jeanne feels like an outsider living in a predominantly Japanese community, as opposed to her previous neighborhood where they were the only Asian family.

“There is a phrase the Japanese use in such situations, when something difficult must be endured. You would hear the older heads, the Issei, telling others very quietly, Shikata na gai (It cannot be helped). Shikata na gai (It must be done).”

Jeanne reflects on endurance as an important motif in Japanese culture. Difficulties are to be expected in life, and one must prepare for such hardships by accepting their presence and enduring the possibility of pain.