Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet Character Traits

The Relationships that Shaped Henry’s Character The development of Henry Lee’s character in Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford can be attributed to the people he met throughout his life that shaped him into the man he is at the end of the novel. Henry evolves into a man who is willing to give up anything for the people he loves. He is exposed to individuals who display both positive and negative personality traits. He observes, interacts, learns, and grows from those select people to develop his personality. Henry’s evolving relationships with his most loved friend Keiko, his father Mr. Lee, and his son Marty, shape him into the noticeably different character he is at the end of the novel. The character that arguably impacted

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. His father was stubborn and traditional. He hadn’t just threatened to disown him-he’d gone through with it” (191). Sadly, Henry’s father allows his hatred for the Japanese to outweigh his love for his son. They struggle to agree on how to treat the Japanese in their community. Henry believes they should be treated normally, just like any other person you’d encounter. Henry’s dad thinks negatively of them. During one of his arguments with Henry, he says, “this Japanese girl. Japanese! She’s a daughter of the butchers of my people” (183). Henry’s dad blames the Japanese, including Japanese Americans, for the war and the hardships that are taking place in the 1940s. Sadly this trivial disagreement fractures the relationship Henry has with his

Maybe his son felt the same.

‘He’ll deal with it in his way, and in his own time,’ Ethel had said, shortly after she learned she had cancer. ‘He’s your son, but he’s not a product of your childhood, it doesn’t have to be the same.’(39)

Ethel reassures Henry that he is not the same person as his father and that he can change for the better. After some time Henry and Marty begin to rekindle their relationship. Marty introduces Henry to Samantha, Marty’s fiance. Before their meeting, Marty was a little fearful that Henry would not approve of Samantha because she was not “a nice Chinese girl to settle down with, like Mom” (81). Thankfully Henry approved, giving Marty a thumbs-up as he greeted her. At that moment Marty realized that Henry was more accepting than Henry’s father ever was of Keiko. After that interaction, they continued to meet up and maintain an exceptional