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Similarities Between Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet

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Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, shows the struggles and triumphs throughout Henry Lee as a child and as an adult. Ford compares his life as a boy growing up, to the present when Henry has his own family. Henry wants to be a good father for his son, after he had a bad relationship with his own father growing up. Marty Henry’s son grew up like Henry not being very close with his father.

Henry grows up in an extremely traditional Chinese household. Henry’s father is a Chinese nationalist who is always pushing Henry to be a patriotic Chinese American. When Henry’s father learns that he is friends with a Japanese girl he refuses to talk to Henry for years. Henry’s father is very involved with the war and is very against …show more content…

He is sent to Rainier Elementary on a scholarship and his father is very proud of this. At Rainier Elementary Henry meets a girl named Keiko. Keiko is Japaneseand she and Henry being the only two not American, become good friends quickly. Keiko grew up in the Japanese part of Seattle with her mom and dad. Her parents are excited to meet Henry and are very thankful when he stores some of their treasured belongings. Henry’s father does not like Keiko and Henry has to make a decision, “Stubbornly Henry refused to give into his fathers wishes, his father wanted nothing to do with Keiko. And had disowned him. Henry couldn’t set that aside. So he stayed, and continued scholarshipping.” (241) When Henry’s parents learn about Keiko his dad is very angry at him, but his mom takes it well and is very …show more content…

Henry knows what it is like to not be close to your father/son and he wants to be close to Marty. Marty and Henry struggled with the loss of Ethel and when she passed away they are the only family they have left. In the end of the story Marty and Henry become closer and Henry finds the father-son relationship he never had with his own father. When Marty tells Henry that he is engaged Henry reacts the opposite of how Henry’s father had when he learned about Keiko. Henry likes Marty’s Fiance Samantha, and he thinks that they will all get along and like each

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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”.

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In novels authors often write allusions. They use allusions to make a story seem more believable or real. In the novel Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford, allusions are used quite often. The first allusion Ford wrote was the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The Japanese bombed and ambushed Pearl Harbor and thousands of lives were left in the dust in December of 1941.

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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.

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763 Words | 4 Pages

Edgar Allen Poe, a brilliant author, once said, “Years of love have been forgot, In the hatred of a minute.” In the novel Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford, several characters encounter this type of conflict, specifically the main character Henry. Throughout the novel, several conflicts occur, and the time frame of the setting emphasizes these conflicts. This novel takes place during the bombing of Pearl Harbor, which was an attack by the Japanese.

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1064 Words | 5 Pages

This creates a void between them that leads Henry to walking out and being disowned by his family,

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921 Words | 4 Pages

This proves that he was not ready and only wanted to prove his mother wrong. As one can see, there are many reasons that Henry is considered a

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780 Words | 4 Pages

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.

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481 Words | 2 Pages

In the novel Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford, family struggles and relationships are portrayed differently between different connections through different people. The first family struggle seen would be the relationship between Henry and his Father. “They didn't speak to him; in fact, they barely acknowledged his presence” (186). Henry's father and mother are very against helping the Japanese Americans for protection, and when they find out Henry is helping Keiko save photos of her family, Henry's father disowns him. Henry was not going to give up on helping Keiko which made his dad very mad.

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1425 Words | 6 Pages

Part III, The War in Japanese Eyes, allows the reader to receive a Japanese perspective and also grasp how devastating the results of war were. Chapter 8, “The Pure Self,” Dower explains the Japanese traditions and culture, along with the humiliation and discrimination the Japanese received. The Japanese believed their culture was unique, and spent this period of time during the war focusing on themselves and their race. Whereas yellow was the color of illness and treason and the Japanese were usually referred to as yellow, the color white symbolized purity which stood for the American race. On the contrary, the Americans were also known as demonic.

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Henry intervenes, “putting his ‘I am Chinese’ button on the counter next to Keiko’s two dollars” and saying that he will buy it instead (Ford 114). This act of standing up for Keiko is a significant moment because Henry actively makes his Chinese identity known, using it to his advantage for the first time. His decision to display his button is more than an act of defiance, but an acknowledgment of his cultural identity. Despite facing open discrimination, he steps up and takes a stand against the prejudice directed toward them. As the tension between the United States and Japan continues to grow, Henry’s identity as a Chinese-American becomes increasingly important.

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In the graphic novel American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, three separate perspectives are told in the same story. The first point of view is about a Monkey King who just wants to fit in with the humans. The next story is about a teenager named Jin Wang who has very few friends, however bonds with a new student named Wei Chen Sun. The final story is about two boys named Danny and Chin Kee. Danny has a love-hate relationship throughout the novel because of Chin Kee’s stereotypes that embarrass him.

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In the novel, Hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet by Jamie Ford, there are many pieces of history that make this novel feel real. The story takes place Seattle Washington. In both the 40s when the main character is at the age of 12, and in the 80s when he is old and retired. Henry is the main character, he is a Chinese kid who grows up trying to live an American Life while being bullied for looking like a Japanese. One great example of this is, "... shoving Henry to the ground-- but not before ripping the button that read "I am Chinese" off Henry's shirt, leaving a small tear"(40).

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880 Words | 4 Pages

In the novel “American Born Chinese” by Gene Luen Yang (2006), it talks about three different people’s stories. The author starts off with telling a story about a monkey called the Monkey King, who lives in the jungle, seeking for higher power to become considered a god in the book. The author also tells a story about an American born Chinese boy named Jin Wang, who moves from San Francisco and struggles with fitting in at a new school. The last story the author tells is about a boy named Danny who has his cousin Chin-Kee from China visit every year. Danny ends up struggling to keep his reputation in adequate shape at school after his cousin visits causing him to switch schools often.

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1225 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout the entire novel, the mothers and daughters face inner struggles, family conflict, and societal collision. The divergence of cultures produces tension and miscommunication, which effectively causes the collision of American morals, beliefs, and priorities with Chinese culture which

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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.’

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