Hana on Deck
“Tears of Autumn” opens with a portrait of the protagonist Hana Omiya on the ship that is transporting here to America where she will marry a complete stranger. As the narrative progresses to furnish the backstory leading to this moment, it will reveal an ambivalence throughout. The first metaphorical attribution to her state is therefore foreshadowing and of great psychological significance:
“Her body seemed leaden and lifeless, as though it were simply the vehicle transporting her soul to a strange new life, and she longed with childlike intensity to be home again in Oka Village.”
Emotional Enhancement
“The Bracelet” is a story about a little Japanese American girl preparing to leave her home and be sent to an internment camp by the United States government following the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan. Her best friend shows up at the door to say goodbye, a gift in hand. Similes are used to enhance the profound emotions taking place at this awkward moment in history:
“She was holding a package wrapped up like a birthday present, but she wasn’t wearing her party dress, and her face drooped like a wilted tulip.”
Hyperbole
Hana’s anxiety still has not settled even by the time she reaches America. In fact, if anything, the long trip has served to raise the heat so that a slow simmer how now reached the boiling point. Metaphor has become hyperbolic:
“The letter eased her anxiety for a while, but as soon as she was released and boarded the launch for San Francisco, new fears rose up to smother her with a feeling almost of dread.”
Those Dangerous Spy Kids Must Be Stopped
Fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, cousins, neighbors…didn’t matter who or what relationship they might have, Japanese American citizens were rounded up and shipped off to “internment camp.” Not that such a thing is racist, of course, but even supposing one were actually to buy that utterly irrational interpretation, what is an internment camp like for a young child, really?
“I felt as though I were going to a prison, but I hadn’t done anything wrong.”
Folk Tales
Uchida has adapted many Japanese folks tales for publication. The fundamental fantastical nature of these stories make them well suited for metaphorical imagery:
“Hikoichi blinked as he looked around, for under the light of the moon, the sand glittered and sparkled like a beach of gold.”
