Farewell To Manzanar Literary Analysis

“When your mother and your father are having a fight, do you want them to kill each other? Or do you just want them to stop fighting” (p.64). Along with “Farewell to Manzanar”, Jeanne Wakatsuki-Houston has written other books and articles, such as, “Don’t Cry, it’s Only Thunder” and “The Legend of Fire Horse Woman”. “Farewell to Manzanar” went on to win the Humanitas Award and a Christopher award. “Our intention from the outset was to reach a wide reading audience—hopefully from young adult through university age, as well as the average adult reader. Though we did not conceive Farewell to Manzanar as a children’s book, we’re extremely gratified to see how it has been received by younger readers. Meanwhile, judging by the letters we receive,

She goes through detailed descriptions of life before, during, and after Manzanar. “The cubicles we had were too small for anything you might call “living”. Mama couldn’t cook meals there. It was impossible to find any privacy there.” (p. 39). Once in Manzanar, the interned were subject to shabby living spaces, poor food, and limited resources. Although there were many hardships at Manzanar, eventually they had an education system and other extra-curricular activities, such as ballet, twirling, and their own glee club. Once some time went by, everyone could have a job and educate themselves to some extent and they were even allowed to go outside the fences. “Once the first year’s turmoil cooled down, the authorities started letting us outside the wire for recreation” (p. 97). This book is for, and should be read by, as the author’s husband says, “every American”. It shows an important part of history that is to be learned from, and never to be repeated. This is a great story about the war time struggle of an entire race of people held captive by their own