![]() ![]() By eventually writing a memoir, Jeanne both valorizes her mother’s behavior and rejects her methods for coping with suffering. However, Mama’s resolute acceptance of whatever happens to the family prevents her from discussing, or helping Jeanne to understand, the traumatic experience of internment. These rituals are both a mechanism for maintaining her own dignity and something that steadies the rest of the family, especially Jeanne. At Manzanar, Mama wears a homemade sunhat as she trudges to and from work, and upon returning to California, she dresses carefully and wears make-up to her menial job at a cannery. ![]() It allows her to maintain her dignity when circumstances seem designed to strip it away. It is the memoir of Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston's life from the. During internment, Mama’s adherence to traditional norms becomes a sign of her strength. First published in 1973, Farewell to Manzanar was written by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. ![]() Her decision to elope with Papa rather than marry a wealthy farmer shows her independence, and rather than sell her precious china to an unscrupulous secondhand dealer, Mama smashes it all on the street. ![]() Reserved and demure, Mama fulfills the ideal of traditional Japanese womanhood in many ways: she runs an efficient household, gives birth to many children, and supports her husband’s wild schemes and career changes. ![]()
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