Their relationship echos the hassles Henry had with his parents. I noticed that Henry had a difficult time communicating with his son, Marty. “Now father and son waited in silence, ignoring the carts of dim sum that rolled by. The awkward moment was interrupted by the crash of plates somewhere in the kitchen, punctuated by men swearing at each other in Chinese and English. There was much to say and ask, but neither Henry nor Marty inched closer to the subject”.
Henry’s father has extreme feelings towards certain subjects or groups of people. Specifically, Henry’s father is against the Japanese because of the war that is currently going on, but little does he know, his son’s only friend is of Japanese descent. When Henry’s parents discovered all of Keiko’s belongings that he was hiding, that was the lowest and possibly breaking point of their relationship. Following that incident, “Henry thought about his parents. They hadn’t spoken a word to him in nearly a week.
Henry Lee, the protagonist, has many relationships, specifically with his father, Marty, and Keiko, that are
But, in Henry’s family, they start to turn on Henry when his father finds out that he is still friends with the Japanese girl that he had previously said Henry could not see anymore. This has a major effect on the family, “His father pointed at the door, ‘If you walk out that door—if you walk out that door now, you are no longer part of this family. You are no longer Chinese. You are not part of us anymore. Nor a part of me.’
But Ethel explains how that is not how a relationship is supposed to be. Henry knows, “. . .deep down, Henry soon realizes that's not how he wants his relationship and starts talking to his son more often. They start to have a close relationship wanting to tell each other everything” (61). Henry and his son Marty have a close bond at the novel’s end, and he meets his Daughter-in-law Samantha, who makes a traditional Chinese dinner.
Beatty. Henry and Keiko steadily grow closer and closer to one another, and they both find a certain comradery within their differences. He main difference between them, is that Henry is Chinese and Keiko is Japanese, but digging deeper the reader can find that there is much more than their nationality that is different, that being their family, Keiko’s family is more of a complete unit without any gaps or voids, whereas Henry's is full of separations and conflicts. Keiko has the ability to speak to her parents in a language they both understand, however Henry is forced to only nod in reply. As a final difference, Henry's family is, much less accepting of Keiko than her family is of Henry.
The issues of new world and old world misunderstandings as well as contrasting values made these relationships challenging to uphold. The relationship involving Henry and his father crumbled due to vigorous values each side possessed. Even though they couldn’t preserve their relationship it created a guideline for how Henry would father Marty. The relationship gave Henry a sense of how a father should act and be the father that he never had. Henry’s relationship to Marty succeeded because of these guidelines.
The tense relationship between Henry and his father in Jamie Ford’s Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet arises from their inability to communicate effectively as a result of their conflicting desires regarding their cultural opinions. Henry's father is an anti-Japanese Chinese person, and he has Henry attend an all-white school, and he additionally mandates he speak English at home. As Henry’s dad does not understand English yet is forcing his son not to speak the language around him, they have no way to communicate, resulting in a severe loss of communication between the two. Young Henry Lee stopped talking to his parents when he was twelve years old. Not because of some silly childhood tantrum, but because they asked him to.
Henry Lee is the protagonist of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. Henry is first introduced as an older man, but the book jumps back in forth between his childhood memories and his adult life. As a young Chinese American boy growing up is Seattle during World War II, Henry faces much racism and bullying. Henry becomes friends with a Japanese American girl named Keiko, who he eventually falls in love with, and who he decides to track down decades later. Henry is very loyal, and he sticks to the people he loves.
Keiko is the reason why Henry dares to speak up to his father, even though it would mean he has to disobey him. Henry’s identity of disregarding his parents mainly his father is why his family relationship changed, his father has no more trust in him even saying “Saang jan”(Ford 207), meaning that Henry is a stranger to him. “I am what you made me, Father” (Ford 185), the words that just spill out of Henry’s mouth, showing his retaliation against his father, as he speaks up. Although Henry believes that what he does for Keiko is right, it harms his family's relationship as his father no longer wants to be associated with him. Henry struggles with his identity, questioning sometimes if he’s too “American” or too “Chinese”.
The novel Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is based on the complicated years after the attack on Pearl Harbor. This setting has caused the Japanese race several issues throughout their daily life and in their relationships. Because of the events of Pearl Harbor, relationships are not a piece of cake for the main character Henry. He has the choice to defy his father to pursue his friendships or continue to be controlled. The relationships Henry has throughout the novel create a significant change by shaping his character.
Where the Wild Things are by Maurice Sendak is an interesting children’s picture book. The main character is a little boy named Max, who has a wild imagination. He uses all five senses as well as thought and his actions to express his personality as well as how he reacts and interacts with his surroundings. Max’s id, ego and super-ego are greatly shown in this book through the way that the author has portrayed him. Not only is this book a children’s story, but it can also be perceived as a life lesson.
5. Who is your favorite character from Of Mice and Men? Why? My favorite character in Of Mice and Men was Crooks the stable buck. I thought that his struggle between his pride and the restrictions of his race was interesting.
To be trapped in one's own mind may be the worst prison imaginable. In Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper", the narrator of the story is constantly at battle with many different forces, such as John, her husband, the yellow wallpaper that covers the walls of her room, and ultimately herself. Throughout the story the narrator further detaches herself from her life and becomes fixated on the yellow wallpaper that surrounds her in her temporary home, slowly driving her mad. The narrator of "The Yellow Wallpaper" is a major and dynamic character as she is the main character of the story, and throughout the story her personality and ways of thinking change drastically.
Stephanie Plum, Morelli, and Ranger are three main characters in the book, One for the Money, by Janet Evanovich. Stephanie is a young woman struggling to get by in the city of Trenton, New Jersey. After losing her job, she goes against her family’s request and gets the dangerous job of a bounty hunter. She gets assigned Joe Morelli, who was accused of murder and who happened to be a childhood enemy. Stephanie is very inexperienced and receives help from a professional bounty hunter, Ranger.
