Farewell to Manzanar is a memoir written by Jeanne Houston and her husband about her childhood. She and her family were moved into an internment camp for Japanese-Americans during WWII. The instability, racism, and physical trials of the camp took their toll on the family, changing young Jeanne's perspective on life. When her dad is reunited with the family, he brings with him trauma, alcoholism, and the suspicion of the guards who think he's a traitor. This challenges Jeanne to forgive her father for introducing so much pain into her already difficult life. After leaving the camp, she grows up in California constantly struggling to readjust. Everyone in school is racist, so she doesn't fit in, but when she tries to adapt her family criticizes her for rejecting their values. As an adult, Jeanne returns with her husband and kids to tour Manzanar and make peace with her past.
Stories like Jeanne's are not only very real but vital to understanding the complexities of racism in American history. Anti-Japanese sentiment on the West Coast thrived for decades after WWII. During the war, anyone with partial Japanese heritage was arrested by the government and placed in these camps. They lost their homes, jobs, possessions, wealth, and sometimes their family members.
For Jeanne, this transition is exceptionally painful because she has little connection to her Japanese heritage. She had grown up in Santa Monica in a mostly anglicized culture. In the camp she struggles to reconcile her ethnic heritage with her cultural identity as an American. This dilemma also manifests in her relationship to her family members, who all choose to identify differently, especially her father. Adapting her Japanese heritage during her time in the camp, on the outside Jeanne is shocked by the racism she meets with by her peers. Before, she blended in, but now she stands out and is bullied. Unwilling to simply reject the very thing for which she and her family were persecuted -- their heritage, -- she continues to try and remain true to herself and to be successful.
The ending of the book symbolizes healing. Jeanne instructs her children in the difficulties of her own childhood and how much the country has changed since then. With her husband, she shares the painful catharsis of returning to Manzanar. When she hears her mother's voice on the wind, Jeanne finds peace. She concludes the book with a story about her family, whom she admires. Despite his faults, she can recognize his love for their family and the honor with which he endured the injustices of the war. All of that is a part of Jeanne's mature identity and will endure forever through her, but she is no longer bound by the pain of the past.
