Farewell to Manzanar question?

Question

I had to read Farewell to Manzanar for school and I am having trouble understanding it. Can anyone explain the main plot of the book? And does this book have sparknotes. Thanks.

Answer 1

To understand Farewell to Manzanar, let's divide the story into 3 parts: Before, during, and aftermath.

Before:

Jeanne and her family are typical Americans living in Santa Monica. Her father fishes in the Long Beach Harbor to support the family. On Sunday, December 7, 1941, the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, an American naval base in Hawaii. After the attack, every Japanese American was considered a suspect or traitor. Papa was considered an enemy alien and before he knew it, two FBI agents arrested him. He was charged with delivering oil to Japanese submarines off the coast and he was relocated to Fort Lincoln, North Dakota for questioning.

During:

Meanwhile after Papa's initial arrest, Jeanne's mom fears living among the Caucasians in Santa Monica. She moves the entire family to Terminal Island where Woody and a son-in-law live. That didn't do much good. On February 19, 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9022. A few days later, Jeanne and her family have 48 hours to move out. They were uprooted from there home and were sent 266 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

Upon arrival at Manzanar, dust storms were prominent and some of the barracks were unfinished. Mama was shocked in horror when she saw that the bathrooms were not partitioned. In the beginning, there wasn't much to do at Manzanar. There was no school and Jeanne's mom went to work. Jeanne sought the Catholic Church as a way to ease the loneliness.

Nine months after Papa's arrest, he returns. He reunites with the family at Manzanar but he is completely different. Papa was man who had many skills but after his charge of disloyalty, he seemed lost. His two countries were at war and he was betrayed by both.

A few years later after the camp has opened, Manzanar became more and more like a little village. It had a school, churches, a post office, a newspaper, sock hops, choir, nature hikes, etc. You might say it was becoming habitual. When the war was ending, many of Jeanne's siblings began to leave Manzanar and they relocated to the East Coast where jobs were opened. The news that the war ended was hardly joyful to Papa and Mama. The Wakatsuki's wondered where they will go for they had no home to return to.

After:

When the Wakatsuki's returned from Manzanar, housing is short. Lucky for them, they found an apartment in Long Beach. After so many years of living among Japanese, Jeanne tries desperately to fit in. She becomes a baton twirler, joins the school newspaper, and uses her sexuality to be a carnival queen. Jeanne realized she wasn't being herself and she started to regret that move. In 1972, Jeanne is married and living in Santa Cruz. She and her family drive to Manzanar to see what it has become. It was that pilgrimage that gave Jeanne the closure she was looking for since her release.