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Ume (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 arrives home from Nihonmachi, distressed about seeing people set their belongings on fire. Before he can talk to his mother about this, she announces that the family has guests over for tea. Henry is stunned to find Chaz and his father, Mr. Preston, in the Lees’ home. Mr. Preston announces that he and Henry’s father are trying to broker a business deal and they want Henry to act as translator for their conversation. “Henry’s one of the smartest kids in class,” Chaz says. “He can translate anything. Japanese too, I bet.”
Chaz’s taunting of Henry in front of his own father as well as Henry’s shows how bigotry can seem bold-faced, but is nevertheless cowardly. Henry’s father does not speak strong enough English to understand Chaz’s insult of Henry, and evidently, Mr. Preston is not bothered by how narrow-minded his son is with regard to the Lees. Chaz is attacking Henry with impunity, then, which suggests that as cruel as his bullying is, it comes from a place of weakness.
Themes
Henry’s father explains that Mr. Preston wants to develop property in Japantown, and that he needs Henry’s father’s support as a board member of the Chong Wa Association, as well as “the support of the Chinese community.” Henry is appalled. He stares at Mr. Preston, “a man trying to buy land out from under families who were now burning their most precious possessions to keep from being called traitors or spies.” Henry is suddenly aware that he is “standing on one side of an unseen line between himself and his father, and everything he’d known.”
This is another pivotal moment in Henry’s relationship to his father. Henry finds himself caught between two men eager to see the Japanese community of Seattle destroyed, and he must make a decision about whether he will betray his father by standing up for what he knows is right, or set his own morals aside in order to show loyalty to the man who has raised him the best way he knew how.
Themes
Mr. Preston asks Henry to tell his father that Mr. Preston also wants to force the Japanese newspaper out of business and buy the lot behind their building. Henry’s father replies: “That property is owned by the Shitame family, but the head of the family was arrested weeks ago. Make an offer to the bank, and they will sell it out from under them.” Henry is horrified by his father’s callousness, so he lies to Mr. Preston. “My father won’t approve of the sale,” he says. “It was once a Japanese cemetery and it’s very bad luck to build there. That’s why the lot is empty.”
Here, Henry makes his choice. In lying outright to his father, Henry takes his first act of rebellion against his father and his father’s worldview. However, it is important to note that Henry is not acting out of spite, but rather out of genuine compassion for the people of Nihonmachi—people like Keiko and her family. Furthermore, it is noteworthy that Henry spins a stereotype about Asian communities being superstitious or mystical to his advantage, turning prejudice on its head without Mr. Preston even realizing it.
Themes
The conversation continues, and Henry continues to lie. Knowing that his father hates jazz music, Henry tells his father that Mr. Preston wants to turn the newspaper building and vacant lot into a jazz club. The conversation between the two men rapidly deteriorates. As Henry continues with his “mixed translation,” he notices Chaz flashing him the “I Am Chinese” button he stole from him, along with “a bucktoothed grin” that none of the adults notices.
In this conversation, Henry has traded silence vis-à-vis his father for actual lies. This shows how far Henry is willing to go to do what he feels is right, thus representing an important step in Henry’s maturation as a character. This moment is also noteworthy because of the way Chaz’s taunting goes unnoticed. Even when surrounded by adults who should protect him, Henry’s struggles as a first-generation American are invisible.
Themes
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Mr. Preston storms out with Chaz, just as Henry’s mother brings the tea into the room. Exhausted, Henry retreats to his room, feeling guilty about—but justified in—lying to his father. He desperately wants to see Keiko. He “picture[s] her in some family photograph, a portrait on fire, curling, burning, and turning to ash.”
Henry is clearly troubled about his decision to lie to his father; this guilt will be compounded as the novel unfolds and Henry makes more decision in defiance of his father’s will. Henry’s concern for Keiko and her family also illustrates just how invested Henry has become in his relationship with Keiko.
Themes
