If He Hollers Character Analysis

There is a release from self-constructed prisons within the tragic events which conspire in the novel. Occurrences such as death, divorce, and hardship loosen—if not ultimately break the binding of silence. Adversity breaks the walls of silence by blatantly placing the characters in positions passed the point of feigned ignorance. The characters choose to ignore the Elephants in the room, it is unsaid facial recognitions they perceive between their family units that uphold this agreement to not touch base upon what hurts them the deepest. The problem they face is they have lost touch with their emotions, yet what they strive most to defer from are thrust before them sometimes by their own doing; however these instances do not provide any relief and it is the forced tragedies that have the greatest impact.
For Ichiro and his father it is the death of mama that releases them from their binding. People are the physical projections of the conscious bindings the characters self-impose. Death of the mother breaks the wall between Ichiro and his father, forcing them to confront the issues of what it means to be Japanese, Japanese-American or American. In an interesting way the mother is what ties the family together, yet she is also what drives them apart. The family unit for the Yamashida family is a title and blood. It is neither …show more content…
The leading protagonists are vastly different, for Bob Jones the hate is outwardly projected while for Ichiro Yamada it is an internalized hate. Both novels strike a similar note of acculturation, the process’ effect can be seen with Ichiro’s back and forth stream of consciousness on who may be right and why, it is also seen with the young Japanese striving to be white, yet in If He Hollers… the African Americans hold onto their identity and becoming white is a negative aspect in their