Farewell To Manzanar Essay Purpose Of The Book Example For Students

Farewell To Manzanar Essay Purpose Of The Book Houston and James D. Houstons novel, Farewell to Manzanar (1973), discusses theinternment of Japanese-American people in a relocation camp from 1943-1945. Theautobiographical work reveals, through the eyes of a Japanese American teenagegirl, her inner struggle with her identity as a person of the Japanese raceliving in California during World War II. The novel explores the issues ofgender culture, and race as important ideas that help Jeanne Wakatsuki toconstruct her own sense of identity and self-hood. Specifically, Farewell toManzanar attempts to raise some significant questions: What is the role of aJapanese woman in the tradtional Japanese society? How does this role shift fora second generation (Nissei) Japanese girl growing up in American? What are thedifferences between the home culture and school culture? How are thesedifferenceS revealed within the novel through values, customs, and theparent-child relationship? What does it mean for Jeanne to be both biLterate andbiculture in American during the 1940s? 1970s? How does Farewell to Manzanarcompare to The Diary of Anne Frank? We will focus on such concerns in theframework of th e social, historical, and cultural contexts of the times.