The Effect Of Relationships In Hotel On The Corner Of Bitter And Sweet By Jamie Ford

Superior Essays
Hate is a word people use almost everyday. They hate getting out of bed, hate going to work, hate people. In today's world, it seems to be that hate has become more prominent than love. Hateful relationships have become so normalized in society, that people do not even think twice when they see or hear about them. As much as people try not to acknowledge it, hateful relationships are an important part of who we are, as are all relationships in a person’s life. The relationships one has in their life can change them and mold them into who they are. In the novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford, a common theme that occurs in the novel is that relationships shape a person into who they are.
The first relationship that shapes
…show more content…
Henry’s connection with his father has a drastic effect on the man he is today. Having grown up surrounded by discrimination and hatred causes Henry to be more accepting of other people and their views. Because he has had no choice but to hide major parts of himself and his life as a child, he tends to be closed off about himself, his views, and his past. His relationship with his father motivates him to be a better father to his son. That imperfect family is what leads him to this point in his life. Henry notes that “perfection isn't what families are all about” (146). That father son bond is undoubtedly important to Henry, even though he is not the best at showing it. Being a father causes Henry to take control and care for others, not just himself. The relationship between Henry and his son builds him and changes him for the better. He strives to shape himself into the best version of himself he can be for his son’s sake. The relationship that has a lasting effect on Henry’s life is his relationship with Keiko. She is the first person Henry loves, she teaches him how to love. It shows him how to fight for what he wants, no matter the cost. Having his girl and relationship brings out the kind and compassionate side of his personality. All of these relationships have a drastic effect on the way he lives his life

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    The year was 1942, a year where some individuals were living in fear for themselves and their family. Historical lens is how the author describes a certain time period in a way that he or she saw the time period. Jamie Ford is the author of the novel Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. Jamie Ford wrote the novel based on the time of the Japanese internment camps and seen in the eyes of 12 year old Henry. Ford thought he would write a book about how the Japanese struggled in America because he thought it was something that most people just swept under the rug and forgot about.…

    • 425 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Until, he discovers unusual war supplies in a unknown part of the Panama Hotel, that were later discovered to be from the Japanese. He and his son go through most of the war supplies from the Japanese, and find things that belonged to Keiko. His son, henceforth, goes and locates his father’s lost friend so they could reunify their lost relationship. When his son does locate Kieko for his father, Henry seeks out to go and search out for her. I thought of this is a sudden change of realization as Henry found Keiko's things.…

    • 503 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Due to certain circumstances Henry is more able to develop close relationships than chay in Trouble by Gary D. Schmit. Henry is a boy from a small town whose world was rocked. His brother franklin just died after getting hit by a car. His sister Luisa, is a massive wreck who refuses to come out of her room. Sanborn his friend tries to help Henry get through this terrible time.…

    • 844 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Realizing the Importance of Relationships Creating healthy relationships with family is far more important than some may presume. In Claire Holden Rothman’s ‘My October’, Luc is under an illusion that he is the ideal father but soon realizes that this is not so true. This realization happens when Luc does not understand his family and is being selfish at first, but after having his son run away from home, and trying to communicate to him afterwards, Luc is brought into his reality that he hasn’t been an ideal father after all. Initially, Luc is self-centered and does not try to understand the importance of family. Luc takes no responsibility for his son Hugo.…

    • 1086 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As such he needed to drop that attitude in order to become the man he wanted to be. He wanted nothing more than a chance to show off and be thought of as a brave and daring male. Henry has to overcome the notions of what it means to be courageous and what it takes to become a man. His concepts of manliness are idealized as his feelings about bravery. He thinks that his culture has tamed men of their urge to fight battles.…

    • 1398 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dealing with the war, he goes from a nonchalant perspective to being disillusioned and broken down into realizing the true horrors and trauma war can bring upon, and defeat is not worse than war itself (Benson 88). Henry also was not very adept in maintaining good connections between him and his friends. The only one true concern and care he had was Catherine, with which whom he shared what one could consider an obsessive relationship. In the end, out of all of Henry’s evolution, it all boiled down to him longing for the one thing he had true and positive feelings…

    • 1068 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Reading and Writing Outcomes A majority of the short stories read throughout English 101 were thought provoking even in the most obscure readings. Such stories include: Birdsong by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner. Both of these short stories provide rich text, set-up for interpretation, debate, and concrete critical analysis. They helped move the class along in terms of fulfilling not only the desired writing outcomes but also the reading outcomes as well.…

    • 811 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    He is a young boy who dreams about the glory and respect that comes from fighting battles. He is put into battled as an inexperienced soldier who knows little of what warfare really is. When it comes time for his regiment to fight he becomes overwhelmed and runs away. His cowardly actions and personality are a defining feature of Henry. He is a round and complex character, who progresses and becomes more brave towards the end of the story.…

    • 1408 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    “Love is an endless mystery, for it has nothing else to explain it” a quote by Rabindranath Tagore, summarizes the themes implemented in “Hills like White Elephants” by Ernest Hemingway, and “What we Talk About When we Talk About Love” by Raymond Carver. These two stories, contain a husband and wife who attempt to decipher the meaning of love. Hemingway’s characters do this subliminally, whereas Carver’s character’s discuss the meaning in a much broader fashion. Both authors have similar writing strategies, but have a few differing literary techniques. These two aforementioned stories, use similar structures and setting, but contrast in their use of symbols, to convey the author’s negative attitudes of love through their themes.…

    • 1350 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In “Bitter in the Mouth,” Truong avoids the traditional love tale focused on an intense affection, rather she has various dynamic relationships which vary due to different circumstances throughout the story. The relationships are all centred around love ranging from romance, heartbreak, family, friendship and ones that seem strained beyond repair. “Bitter in the Mouth” occurs in Boiling Springs, Linda, who has synesthesia, understands that she is different from everybody in her adopted small town and is unsure of her backstory how she ended up there. Seeing that and the states of her respective relationships continuously influence the decisions she makes throughout her life. Truong’s theory of love consists of it being shown in many diverse…

    • 1366 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Firstly, Henry IV’s main father-son bond: Hal and his father King Henry IV. These two have an extremely tenuous link in the beginning of…

    • 1049 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    The contemporary postcolonial literature by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Hanif Kureishi, M. Nourbese Philip and Zadie Smith combines the concepts of language and gender to show differences in cultural identity and, especially expose the difficulties these differences bring in the assimilation of the native culture and the colonialist culture. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Kureishi, Philip and Smith all have different approaches and experiences when it comes to the intersections of these concepts and cultures, and their writing shows how language and gender creates a division between the colonists’ culture and the native cultures of the authors. Ngũgĩ’s essay “The Language of the African Literature”, shows how the introduction of the English language into his…

    • 1455 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Although many of Billy Collins’ short poems feature a first-person perspective, readers should not necessarily assume that the voice belongs to the poet himself. Indeed, at times, Collins speaks in the voice of a distinct character whose experiences and thoughts reveal a specific situation and crisis. In “The Waitress,” for example, the speaker’s observations indicate that he dines out often enough to recognize the behaviours common to restaurant servers, but the detail of his description suggests that observing the waitress on this occasion has become a personally meaningful activity. The speaker’s detailed observation of his apparently indifferent waitress gives way to a romantic fantasy that reveals him to be a lonely man contemplating…

    • 841 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Liking is for cowards, go for what Hurts - Jonathan Franzen’s work ‘Liking is for Cowards. Go for What Hurts’ is structured around the idea that humans live in a world where increasingly the most important relationships in our lives, are the superficial and short lived ones we have with our tech devices. I agree with Jonathan’s point that that amongst a world of techno-consumerism we hide our real selves, and that we portray the version of ourselves that we think is going to be the most likeable. Although I do not agree with the romantic lens in which he writes about this contemporary issue through, framing his argument around the issue of love, and the love we have for our narcissistic selves. The reason that people ‘dedicate their existence…

    • 959 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Theme Of Heroism In A Farewell To Arms

    • 995 Words
    • 4 Pages
    • 1 Works Cited

    Everything changed after he met Catherine though. Henry fell in love, and he learned to care for someone besides himself. He learned that what other people want matters and that, sometimes, you need to put other people’s needs in front of your own. “When you love you wish to do things for. You wish to sacrifice for.…

    • 995 Words
    • 4 Pages
    • 1 Works Cited
    Superior Essays