As motivational speaker Jim Rohn once said, “We are the average of the five people we spend the most time with.” Henry Lee is just one of the many examples that proves this quote true. In the novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford, the relationships between Henry and those close to him shape his character. Keiko Okabe, Henry’s son, and Henry’s father interact with Henry in ways that seem small, but in the end the events that have taken place influence Henry greatly. Throughout his life, Henry’s character was shaped in both positive and negative aspects, which was influenced greatly by the people he was surrounded by. Henry’s relationship with his father lacked necessary communication and the emotional detachment followed …show more content…
The novel begins as Henry reminisces his time with her, which suggests that she is the focus point of the story. “The hotel had always been a perfect landmark. A perfect meeting place―where he’d once met the love of his life” (1). Henry’s relationship with Keiko is the relationship the book revolves around for many reasons. Due to her Japanese descent, Henry found himself falling in love with a girl that his father would never approve of. In turn, Keiko fueled Henry’s rebellion against his father, and taught him valuable lessons about how to love and what it means to be a family. When Keiko is sent away to Camp Harmony, Henry is driven mad by their separation. He searches for ways to get in contact with Keiko, and eventually finds a job that will allow him to find her while he is serving food at the camp’s cafeteria. His desperation to find her shows the impact Keiko has on his life. He tells her he will wait for her, however long it takes, so they can be together. Since Henry is only 12 years old, it is clear that his love for her is deep and true. Keiko influenced Henry’s character the most because she was the turning point of his
Friendship describes the mutual pledge to help reveal the innermost workings of a person, bringing out the hidden attributes and validity of one’s characteristics. Subsequently, the bonds and struggles of friendship are a central cause for unveiling identity as the relationship one makes contributes to long-lasting change. The acceptance of a person’s differences conveys an importance for the development of strong bonds. Moreover, hardships accompanying relationships establish times to reflect on oneself and lead to positive outcomes for growth. Furthermore, the memorable journeys embed an area in one’s mind that will change the way self-perspective is seen. Through the characters of Lewis in If I Ever Get Out Of Here by Eric Gansworth and
Alice’s relationship would not go very far, constructing her ending for Henry, “Henry Reyna married Della in 1948 and they have five kids, three of them now going to the University, speaking calo and calling themselves Chicanos.” This quote essentially dispersed Alice’s hope for something more with Henry. Making Alice side with Henry’s parents in his potential marriage with Della due to his responsibilities, “If it was just me and you, Henry it might be different. But you have to think of your family.” This quote shows Alice’s understanding of what Henry must do. In the end Alice’s feelings are put aside due to what cannot be done and what must be
The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford, portrays an array of conflicts between Henry and his father, Marty, and Keiko throughout the novel. Henry's relationships that he encounters throughout his life, changes Henry as a person in many ways. Henry battles adversity, other characters, and himself, but it all leads him to become shaped into a new character.
Secondly, Henry's relationship with Marty is like a roller coaster, but slowly starts to develop throughout the novel. With the presence of Ethel, Henry as an average father son relationship with not many problems. Because Ethel brought the family together, the relationship between Henry and Marty went downhill when she died of cancer. Since Henry had an unstable relationship with his father, Henry did not know how to engage with Marty. When Henry learns that Marty has a fiancée, the bond between Henry and Marty starts to develop with the presence of Marty's new fiancée. Finally, Henry finds out how to engage with Marty through Samantha because of her bringing the relationship back
As Henry struggled to find himself he connected more with Sheldon who played Jazz music in the streets. This gave the reader a sense of comfort that after losing Keiko and his father he was able to connect with someone who respected him and supported who Henry was. Mrs. Beatty who was the cafeteria cook asked Henry to help her in the internment camps to serve the people living there. This scenario brought hope to the reader that Mrs. Beatty understood and empathized with what Henry was feeling when Keiko was forced to leave. Each time Henry connected with Keiko at the internment camp it elicited happiness that Henry did not allow the difference in him and Keiko to impact his feelings. It was disappointing to read Keiko never returned from the internment camp. Henry’s decision to move on with Ethyl was shocking and somewhat disappointing. After being married and sharing a son, Ethyl passed away which was another gloomy experience in the book. It was a surprise when Henry chose to look for Keiko’s items that she left behind. Henry’s reflection on his relationship with his son, Marty and the desire to improve it was heartwarming as was the relationship Henry developed with Samantha, Marty’s fiancé. As the story came to an end and Henry was face to face again with Keiko it brought delight to the reader that after all these years and all the heart wrenching experience they were able to reconnect like they had never been apart.
Friendship is another major theme in the novel, John Marsden uses this theme to overlap with other issues like survival and war. The characters of the novel all depend on those around them for help and support in everything they do. Friendship provides people with strength, hope and love, and all these things help a person overcome tragedies, death, and moments when it seems life isn’t worth living. An example from the novel would be when Corrie’s house is blown up, she is devastated and it is only with the support of the others that she can continue. A real life issue about friendship/love and survival would be the incident with the Beaconsfield miners. The miners were sure they would die, but with the thought in there heads of family and friends outside waiting for there arrival, they continued on battling for there lives, relying only on the support of loved ones. When Lee was shot in the leg by soldiers, Robyn carried Lee over her shoulder until it was safe enough to treat the wound. Robyn overcame her fear of blood and cuts, to save Lee from infection and disease. John Marsden uses techniques like first person
The hotel also acted as “a placeholder that would be there for him sometime in the future (252).” In the beginning Henry thought, “his own broken heart might be found there,” but when Henry decided to explore the hotel he found Keiko
Good friendships make life easier. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck, is about two men, George and Lennie, who go on various journeys in order to get a job. Although George would consider Lennie to be his closest friend, he ultimately ends up shooting and killing Lennie. George did this, not out of hatred, but rather out of protection. A good friend will always want what is best for one another. Steinbeck uses his protagonists’ friendship in order to show that true friendship can help make any of life’s hardships less difficult.
Jamie Ford, the author of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, wrote a story about a Chinese boy named Henry and how he fell in love with a Japanese-American girl named Keiko Okabe. Their adorable and heart wrenching love story took place at Seattle, Washington during World War II when tensions rose between Americans, Chinese, and Japanese. In the novel, Henry’s father was a traditional Chinese man who was extremely loyal to his country. Due to his strong devotion to his homeland and resentment toward Japanese people, he disapproved of his son’s friendship with Keiko. As Henry’s affection and admiration grew for Keiko, his relationship with his father suffered. Misunderstandings and built up frustrations emerged from their lack of communication. Henry struggled with communication, the key to forming a strong relationship and a UULO that is significant throughout this novel. Because of this, he had a difficult time maintaining many of his relationships, including the one with his father, Keiko and his son, Marty.
For all of the ups and downs of Henry Lee’s life he makes his life good with his love and friendship. Jamie Ford wants to get the reader's attention on friendship by writing Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. Henry’s life was a wild, crazy, and hectic he was shunned out by his family just because he was being a good friend. Friendship is something that people can not live without. Just like Henry did a lot of things just so his friend can be happy, he showed that his friendship meant a lot to him knowing there was consequences.
The first way is by trusting your friends. In this novel, Henry and Keiko continually trust each other with certain assignments. Henry needs Keiko to be his friend, and to guide him through the stressful and confusing world. Keiko needs Henry to assist her in getting new supplies in her concentration camp and to have a true friend, and not just a loving family. Henry and Keiko's trust in each other is a extremely meaningful theme throughout the novel. The second way is by being loyal to your friends. Keiko and Henry experience a lot of difficulty, many times where it would have been easier to simply quit and acknowledge the fact that their friendship can never work out. Instead, they find new methods to make their relationship work. Henry is ready to sacrifice his life with his family for Keiko's friendship, and in turn Keiko sacrifices much of her time and the risk of being humiliated by spending time with Henry. All in all, the theme of friendship and self-reliance is presented throughout Henry and Keiko's relationship. There are many characters in this novel, but the main ones are Henry Lee, Keiko Okabe, and Sheldon. Henry Lee is the main character and the protagonist (the leading character or hero). He is a
In this novel, there are different social environments that interact with the Lee family. Each of these environments interact with the Lee family in different ways. Some environments interact for the better, and some are very concerning.
As Henry James sees it, characters are only as interesting as their responses to particular situations. This is true not only in any piece of literature with a character but also in life. I following text is my exploration into characters and their reactions to situations in John Steinbeck’s, "The Chrysanthemums" and John Cheever’s, "The Five-Forty-Eight". Characters in both of these stories are full of passion and come alive in the text as you read them. It is this resurrection of the text to full life in your mind’s eye that is at the core why people like to read!
Throughout a lifetime the things that make us, as individuals, feel joy give meaning to our lives, without these things we have no meaning to be on Earth. Hemingway takes the reader on a journey of adding meaning to life. He shows the reader that the soldiers feel nothing towards the war and it is just something to do. Frederick Henry, a soldier, gives up on the war and decides to no longer be apart of something he does not care for. When Henry meets Catherine Barkley, she does not affect his existence until later in the novel. He lies to her and does not realize how important their time spent together truly is. Eventually, Henry realizes he does love Catherine. She changes his life for the better and when he is not around her he feels empty. His entire existence revolves around her. At the end of the novel, Henry gets the meaning of his life stripped away from him when Catherine dies after childbirth and he no longer feels any sort of emotion. In A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway explores through detail, setting, characterization, symbolism, and imagery that life is a useless, blank canvas until it is painted to evoke meaning and demonstrate a story.
The story begins with Maurice Bendrix professing his hated for both Sarah and Henry Miles. It soon becomes conspicuous that Bendrix does not actually feel this way about either of them. This rash opinion of the couple is made in light of his affair. . Near the end of his narrative, Bendrix says, “And I thought, hating Sarah is only loving Sarah and hating myself is only loving myself’ (182). Bendrix so bad wanted to hate Sarah, but found that there was too much love to ever accomplish such a feat. With Henry, Bendrix found that he could only hate him for being oblivious. Bendrix and Henry become close in the end and even live together following Sarah’s death. Sarah’s affair affected every relationship within the story and impacted every decision made.