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Nihonmachi (1942)
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Belonging, Bigotry, and Identity
Silence vs. Communication
Family Dynamics and Inheritance
Memory
Love and Self-Sacrifice
Summary
Analysis
Lost in sorrowful memories of his late wife, Ethel, Henry decides to go to Bud’s Jazz Records to look for a recording by Oscar Holden. Allegedly, Holden recorded a master session on vinyl but none of the printed copies survived. Henry chats with the storeowner about the mysterious Holden record, as well as the recent discovery of World War II belongings at the Panama Hotel. When Henry tries to buy a record, the storeowner gifts it to him, offering his condolences about Ethel’s death.
At this point, the reader has not yet learned the emotional significance of the Oscar Holden record that Henry is searching for. However, this scene suggests that the record holds a place of importance in Henry’s memory. The fact that Henry and the shop owner discuss the record in conjunction with the newly-discovered items at the hotel foreshadows the fact that the record is intimately connected to Henry’s relationship with Keiko.
Themes
