Relationships In Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet

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Growing up in a home where intimacy was brutal to develop and took place during WWll. The novel Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford demonstrates Henry’s relationships, such as with his father, who did not have a close relationship. Henry and his son Marty have grown a lot in their relationship because of Henry’s past. He does not want to make the same mistakes as he did before. Keiko, Henry's first love for each other, learned and exchanged the importance and critical factors of a relationship. Ford demonstrates and explains many types of relationships through the main character Henry who develops and changes throughout the novel.
Firstly, Henry and his father had a toxic relationship; there was not much communication between …show more content…

Imperfect. But he didn’t care; this was all he hoped for, and he’d found it. It didn’t matter what condition it was in. (142).
Although Henry looked up to his father and wanted to change many things his father did while parenting, he still loved and cared for his father, especially when he had a stroke and Henry saw Him dying. Even though he kept the letters, Henry sent them out to Keiko to protect Henry in a way Henry could not quite understand.
In addition to Henry and his father's relationship. Henry thought that culturally he was supposed not to have a close relationship with his son just like he did with his father. 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. Showing Samantha’s commitment to Marty and how much she wants Henry’s