Farewell To Manzanar Research Paper

“The truth was, at this point Papa did not know which way to turn. In the government 's eyes a free man now, he sat, like those black slaves you hear about who, when they got word of their freedom at the end of the Civil War, just did not know where else to go or what else to do and ended up back on the plantation, rooted there out of habit or lethargy or fear” (Farewell to Manzanar, ----). Papa was just one victim of injustice. After the Japanese dropped a bomb on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1947, all Japanese Americans were relocated to internment camps. President Roosevelt signed executive order 9066, ordering that all people of Japanese ethnicity because the government viewed them as a threat to national security. Jeanne Wakatsuki

Throughout her stay at Manzanar, Jeanne struggled with her identity. Jeanne was trying to figure out who she was and what she was going to become. When Jeanne first wanted to try something new, she did not know if she should try Japanese or American activities. Jeanne expresses her confusion when she states “even at ten, before I really knew what waited outside, the Japanese in me could not compete with that. It tried in camp, and many times later, in one form or another”(Houston 84). Jeanne does not understand what she wants to do at this point. She wants to do something that would pass her time because she can not work in the camps. Her papa wants her to do something Japanese like orodi. Jeanna tried odori but she felt that she was not good at it and she felt like she did not belong with the other Japanese students in the dance class. Jeanne wanted to do something American because she felt like she could do much better at that. Jeanne tries ballet but she does not want to do it after she sees that the is so worn out and her toes are bloody because of all the ballet she does in her life. Jeanne tries other things but finally settles on baton twirling Jeanne wanted to give Catholicism a try because