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Sheldon Thomas (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 wakes up in Camp Minidoka; he has stayed the night with the Okabes. He was able to sneak in easily; “for once in his life,” he thinks, “there was a benefit to Caucasian people thinking that he was […] Japanese.” Keiko awakens, too. Henry tells her about his plan to sneak her out of the camp. Keiko replies, “Don’t ask, because I would go back with you.” Henry promises to wait for Keiko. Mrs. Okabe awakens and asks Henry, “How’s it feel to be a prisoner for a day?” “Best day of my life,” Henry replies, making Keiko smile.
Ironically, the ignorance of white Americans works to Henry’s benefit here, and the fact that he is able to find amusement in this shows how strong Henry has had to become, given the constant racist bullying he has had to withstand throughout his life. Henry’s assertion that this is “the best day of [his] life” is also noteworthy, as it testifies to the power of Henry and Keiko’s love to transcend their difficult circumstances.
Themes
Henry eats breakfast with the Okabes. He asks Mr. Okabe why the Japanese prisoners, who greatly outnumber the guards, don’t take over the camp. “We’re still loyal to the United States of America,” Mr. Okabe explains. “Why? Because we too are Americans. We don’t agree, but we will show our loyalty by our obedience.” Mr. Okabe’s words make Henry think of his parents, for whom “obedience [is] a sign of loyalty […] an expression of honor, even […] an act of love.” Henry is still worried that his disobedience of his father caused his father to have a stroke.
Mr. Okabe’s words powerfully illustrate how deeply American he is. Despite his government’s inhumane treatment of him, his family, and his fellow Japanese Americans, Mr. Okabe is still committed to serving his country; he has not succumbed to bitterness. This seems to be the difference between Mr. Okabe’s version of “love as obedience” and Henry’s father’s version. Mr. Okabe gives his obedience freely, while Henry’s father tries to extract it from Henry.
Themes
Henry, Keiko, and Mr. Okabe discuss the fact that many male prisoners are enlisting to fight for America in the war. Mrs. Okabe interrupts their discussion; she says she’s honored Henry came “all this way to court Keiko,” but she wants to plan how to smuggle him out of the camp, since there was a shooting only one week before the Okabes arrived. Startled on more than one level, Henry realizes he hasn’t asked permission to court Keiko. He does so, and Mr. Okabe warmly grants it. Then Henry asks what happened to the soldier who fatally shot a prisoner. Mr. Okabe says that the soldier was fined for “unauthorized use of government property”—in other words, the bullet that killed the prisoner.
The voluntary enlistment of many Japanese American men emphasizes yet again how patriotic these prisoners are, in sharp contrast to the government’s refusal to see them as such. The story of the prisoner shot by a soldier further illustrates the American government’s refusal to see its Japanese American citizens as human beings, never mind citizens. The fact that people like Mr. Okabe find it within themselves to keep loving and serving this government attests to how powerfully many Americans, regardless of their race, feel about their American identity.
Themes
