Mrs. Evans
English 10
23 February 2013
Farewell to Manzanar
Beginning with a foreword and a time line, Farewell to Manzanar contains an autobiographical memoir of Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston's wartime imprisonment at Manzanar, a Japanese-American internment camp. On Sunday, December 7, 1941, in Long Beach, California, the family — consisting of both parents, Jeanne's four brothers and five sisters, and Granny — are startled by news that Japan has attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. FBI agents arrest Jeanne's father, Ko, for allegedly supplying oil to Japanese submarines and imprison him at Fort Lincoln, near Bismarck, North Dakota. In February 1942, President Roosevelt issues Executive Order 9066 ordering Japanese-Americans to evacuate their homes and take up residence in internment camps. The Wakatsuki’s, with Jeanne's …show more content…
Jeanne avoids family disorder by hiding under the bed, studying catechism, playing hopscotch, and learning ballet. In spring 1943, the family locates better accommodations at Block 28, where Papa develops optimism through cultivating pear trees. Jeanne enjoys normal school experiences, including participation in glee club and yearbook activities. Camp life grows difficult as a result of pro-Japanese riots and forced loyalty oaths. Many young men, including Woody, disagree with the older generation and sign up for the military as a means of proving their loyalty. Later, to prove his sense of manhood, Papa rejects leaving Manzanar in a bus and returns his clan two hundred and twenty-five miles to Long Beach via three round trips in a blue, used Nash automobile. The family locates an apartment in Cabrillo Homes, a flimsy housing project in west Long Beach. Mama works in a fish cannery; Papa is unable to find work commensurate with his need for