Have you ever wondered how people’s identities have been of affected by Internment? In Farewell to Manzanar, a memoir by Jeanne Wakatsuki and James D. Houston, Jeanne, and her family are sent to an internment camp called Manzanar. Shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, on February 19, 1942. The Order forced Japanese Americans into Internment Camps because they were thought to be a threat. Because of this, thousands of Japanese families were moved to internment camps. Jeanne and her family were kept at Manzanar throughout World War Two, which lasted six years. Because of the influence, WWII had on Jeanne, her identity was affected in different ways- her perceptions of family members, thoughts of her race, and her gratitude had changed. Jeanne’s relationships with her mother and father were changed, causing Jeanne to not only feel isolated but feel like she was at a loss. Before, Manzanar …show more content…
Prior to Manzanar, Jeanne lived on Terminal Island, amongst other Japanese whom scared her. Papa was the reason people of her kind scared her, she says, “It was the first time I had lived among other Japanese, and I was terrified all the time. This was partly Papa’s fault. One of his threats to keep us younger kids in line was “I’m going to sell you to the Chinaman ” (pg.10). Jeanne feared her own race due to Papa, but that fear later turned into astonishment because of Manzanar. Jeanne said, “At Manzanar, past the fear of slanted eyes and high cheekbones, I watched with fresh amazement the variety of faces and bodies and costumes all around me. This may have resulted, in part, from the life Manzanar had forced upon us all” (pg. 82). She emphasizes that Manzanar helped her discover the incredible qualities that lie in her ethnicity. Now, she is more proud to be Japanese, instead of being