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Bombing of Pearl Harbor
Summary: Japan bombed Pearl Harbor which created tension between the US and Japan.
Turning Point: Jeanne's life dramatically changes after this event: her father gets arrested by the FBI, her family is forced to leave home, and she begins to face racial discrimination.
Theme: Her life changes. The bombing created tension between the Americans and the Japanese. Jeanne being Japanese American will start to encounter encounters being both. -
Jeanne and her family leave for Manzanar
Summary: After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japanese families and individuals were forced to go to camps. Some individuals were arrested and investigated to see if they had any connections with the bombing.
Turning Point: If it weren't for this event, Jeanne would continue to have a "normal" life. This also made Jeanne felt like an outcast. She feels that she doesn't belong with the other Japanese people since she grew up in an American neighborhood. -
(continuation) Jeanne and her family leave for Manzanar
Theme:This event relates to the theme since this is when she starts to think about her identity and develops who she really is. To clarify, when she first arrived at the camp she realized how she didn't really fit in with the people there and starts to think about how if she considers herself as "Japanese" anymore. -
Jeanne's encounter with Japanese nuns
Summary: Jeanne encounters Japanese nuns one day and becomes curious about Catholicism. She regularly visited their chapel and nearly converts into Catholicism but her father stops her.
Character Development: With much time on her hands, she starts to become more observant of the people around her, which is why she started going to the chapel.
Theme: This event greatly relates to the theme as she starts to develop who she is on her own without any restrictions for a while. -
(continuation) Jeanne's encounter with Japanese nuns
Theme: Before Papa stopped her, she was developing her identity as she wanted to convert to Catholicism and become religious. This event truly brought out her identity as she had no outside influence on what she decides to believe in just for a while. -
Jeanne's father returns to Manzanar
Summary: Jeanne's father returned from his arrest. At first, no one approached him except him Jeanne.
Character Development: This event dramatically shaped Jeanne as an individual. When her father first arrested and left, Jeanne had no emotion or reaction to it and couldn't understand what was going on at the time. Now, when she sees her father return back, she was welcomed by this sudden rush of happiness and hugged her father while crying. -
(continuation) Jeanne's father returns to Manzanar
This showed how she has matured over some time as she has learned and realized the importance of family.
Theme: The way she approaches the situation by greeting her father with a hug instead of freezing up shows how she has matured over some time. This impacts her identity as her level of maturity changes over a course of time can foreshadow the life decision she makes in the future. -
Jeanne's family leaves Manzanar
Summary: Internment camps close down as they were declared illegal by the Supreme Court. This then lets Jeanne's family leave Manzanar and have a new start.
Turning point: Jeanne and her family are now finally free and she can continue her "normal" life outside of the internment camps.
Theme: This relates to the theme as her liberation allows her a wider variety of life decisions and options, making more opportunities to develop her personality on her own. -
Jeanne goes to a junior high school
Summary: After leaving Manzanar, Jeanne and her family settle in Long Beach, California where Jeanne enrolls in a public school.
Character Development: Struggling to adapt to her new life, Jeanne goes back to school and makes a new friend named Radine. This helps her adjust to her new life in Long Beach and makes her feel like she belongs and "fits in." -
(continuation) Jeanne goes to a junior high school
Theme: At first, the students saw that Jeanne was Japanese and immediately assumed that she didn't know English. Being Japanese made other people view her as foreign. This made her contemplate whether she is either Japanese or American, while in reality, she's both. -
Jeanne goes back to Manzanar
Summary: Jeanne takes her new family, which consists of her American husband and her three kids, out to Manzanar.
Character Development: Although this memory of her life isn't necessarily pleasant, she still embraces it which shows how mature she was at this time compared to when she was a little kid. -
(continuation) Jeanne goes back to Manzanar
Theme: Going back to Manzanar shows how Jeanne Wakatsuki finally realizes how Manzanar shaped her as a person although it might not be the best memory. She accepts this as a part of who she is and understands how much Mqanzanar means to her. -
Theme Statement
As you grow, there will be many obstacles that you will need to overcome in order to become your true self.
