Farewell to Manzanar, by Jeanne Wakatuski Houston, is a true story of her life during World War II. The book tells how Jeanne’s life and the life of her family were influenced by the internment of many Japanese-Americans during World War II. It tells the story of the separation of the family members, hardships, racial discrimination, injustice and hatred that they had to live with during this time period. The book is told from Jeanne’s own experiences in her own town, how her peers at school treated her, and what it was like being uprooted from their home and being put into the Japanese internment camp of Manzanar. In her book the author also talks about how she tried to be somebody else totally different to fit into a society, rejecting who she really was. The struggles she went through during her stay at Manzanar, the crude reality and harshness she faced, made her a stronger person, but at the same time it made her neglect her culture and try to adopt foreign customs. The fact that she was exposed to more American traditions and activities, made her want to be more Americanized.
Jeanne Wakatsuki was just a seven year growing up in Ocean Park, California when her whole life was about to change. The surprise attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese was the moment Jeanne's life was critically altered. This started WWII and all Japanese were seen as possible threats to the nation’s safety. Her father was immediately arrested and taken away, being accused with furnishing oil to Japanese subs off the coast. And now, Jeanne left without a father, her mother was trapped with the burden of Jeanne's rapidly aging grandmother and her nine brothers and sisters. He was the one who was always in control, and made all the decisions for the family. But now it was time for Jeanne's family to do something. They found refuge at Terminal
