The Importance Of Communication In Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet

Jaime Ford, author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, demonstrates the importance of communication in relationships at any age, with any people. Communication is extremely important for keeping relationships healthy and thriving. Lack of communication can cause arguments, stress, anxiety, and failed relationships. Henry’s childhood relationship with his father is negatively affected by their lack of communication. This lack of communication was caused by a language barrier, which affected their father-son relationship forever. Henry felt comfortable around Mrs. Beatty because they communicated often, revealing that she is not as intimidating as she looks. Mrs. Beatty and Henry develop a good relationship because they often converse

As Henry and Marty express their feelings to each other their relationship also improves. Henry never properly learned to communicate, resulting in him and his son Marty having a distant relationship. When Marty got engaged to Samantha, Henry and Marty worked together to repair their fallen relationship.

Henry’s relationship with his father is negatively affected by their language barrier, which caused lack of communication between them. Henry’s parents wanted him to be more American, which meant he was to speak only English. “But since his father understood only Cantonese and a little Mandarin, the conversations came as waves, back and forth tidal shores of separate oceans” (Ford 46). Henry could not talk to either of his parents at any time of the day, considering they wanted him to be more “American”. This created a massive language barrier, which resulted in a lack of communication. This then passed on to Henry’s relationship with his own son. When Henry got home from school one day, he saw his father in the living room

Henry’s father had not allowed him to speak English, while his parents could only speak in Cantonese. This creates a language barrier that leads to a lack of communication. “Whatever stumbling methods of communication Henry had used with his own father seemed to have passed down to Marty.” Henry did not have a strong relationship with his father, and those mannerisms passed down to his relationship with his own son, Marty. Marty was closer with Ethel, since she had better communication skills and used them with her son. Ethel acted as a buffer between father and son. When she died, Henry and Marty did not talk about it. They both were grieving heavily, but neither talked about it since they were not used to sharing their feelings with one another. When Marty found out about Keiko, he realized that “Henry had told his son little about his childhood” (Ford 178). Keiko was Henry’s childhood friend and crush, which he had not seen for over twenty years. Henry had given up hope that he would ever find Kieko again, much less have a relationship with her. When Marty and Henry’s relationship started to improve again after the engagement announcement, Marty was more invested in Henry’s childhood. He helped track down Keiko, who was in New York. Marty knew how important Keiko was to his father because of all Henry told him about her. Without Henry’s communication