By planting trees—symbols of home and stability—the governments tries to accustom the prisoners to internment (or make it seem less inhumane). Yet the woman knows the trees will die and their plan will fail, because the camp will never be home. However, her claim that she had no business wearing the earrings shows that while she hasn’t accepted the camp as home, she
has begun to accept her place in America’s racist social hierarchy. She seems to have now internalized the idea that Japanese minorities in America have no right to the prosperity that jewelry connotes.