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Broken Records (1986)
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
Henry is at Sheldon’s nursing home, having gotten a call that Sheldon’s health is deteriorating. Henry sits at Sheldon’s bedside. Though Sheldon is disoriented and only semi-coherent, he tells Henry: “Fix it.” “You want me to fix the Oscar Holden record, don’t you?” Henry asks. Sheldon drifts off to sleep without explaining, but when he awakens he is lucid. Henry reminds Sheldon what he said. Sheldon replies: “If you can put those broken pieces together, make some music again, then that’s what you should do. But I wasn’t talking ’bout the record, Henry.”
Even though his hold on life is tenuous at this point, Sheldon is still committed to helping his friend Henry find happiness. Sheldon’s philosophy seems to be that beauty and joy should be seized wherever they are found. Henry “made some music” in building a life and family with Ethel, but now that she is gone, that is no reason that Henry should stop himself from reviving the music he once shared—literally and figuratively—with Keiko.
Themes
