What Is The Theme Of Farwell To Manzanar By Jeanne W. Houston

For Jeanne W. Houston, December 7th 1941 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, this would be the day that her family’s lives was changed, and for the most part never to be same as it was before. In “Farwell To Manzanar”, written by Houston and her husband David, Jeanne tells of what her life was like after that day. Jeanne was the youngest of ten children, her parents emigrated from Japan. Her father was Ko Wakatsuki, and her mother’s name was Riku. Ko and his sons were commercial fishermen when the attack on Pearl Harbor happened. After the attack the Japanese who was in America was forced to leave their homes to go live in government camps. At this time a person whom was Japanese, was not considered a naturalized citizen of the United States. Jeanne’s father was arrested and was contained at Ft. Lincoln. She and the rest of her family was relocated three times till they finally arrived at Manzanar.

Jeanne was seven years old when she came to Manzanar. As she tells the stories of what life was like at the camp, it seems that even with the deplorable living arrangements, the fighting amongst others, they tried to live as close to a normal life as possible. Her father Ko was separated from them for about a year. After his release from Ft. Lincoln Ko was reunited with his family at Manzanar. His return brought more hardships to what existed

He was the baby of 15 children, one of the only 3 boys in which one of his older brothers he never met because he died as a child in a horrible farming accident in Germany. Daddy was one of the 6 children born here in the United States. My Oma (grandmother) and Poppa moved to Gallipolis, Ohio in 1934 to escape what was happening at that time in Germany. Some of my daddy’s siblings stayed in Germany because some had started families it was impossible for them to come all at once. However, in time most made their way