What Shows Others Who We Are?
In Hotel on The Corner of Bitter and Sweet, every page is jam-packed with signs of personality, nationality, and everything else that just demonstrates who we are to the world. Whether it’s intentional or not, we are constantly showing off who we are to the world, good and bad traits. And just by taking a look at Henry and Keiko, for maybe even a minute, you realize how abundantly clear they themselves become. Their characters are completely out in the open, and there for anyone to see. Neither of them holds back about who they are, and I admire that about them.
An example of this presence in the book is when little Henry is forced by his vehemently Chinese father to wear a big red button that clearly states that he is Chinese. Henry is nothing more than a little annoyed by this button, but his friend, Keiko takes this a little differently. After escaping the Black Elks club from an Arresting of the Japanese, Keiko is feeling indifferent about her own nationality, which is Japanese, even she chooses to only call herself American. She glances over at Henry and stills sees the obnoxious red button. She questions him about what nationality he think really thinks he is, only to get an answer she doesn’t want to hear.
“I can’t watch this anymore,” Keiko said, stalking away.
“I’m sorry I brought you here,” Henry offered as they walked to the edge of South Main. where they would split up for their separate walks home. “I’m sorry our big night was ruined.”
Keiko halted and looked at Henry. She looked down at his button, the one his father made him wear. “You are Chinese, aren’t you, Henry?”
He nodded, not knowing the answer.
“That’s fine. Be who you are,” she said, turning away, a look of disappointment in her eyes. “But I’m an American.” (60)
This demonstrates how Henry was finally starting to believe that button that had been pinned to him all this time. I think of it as propaganda, specifically designed for him. This shows who he is, in the physical and national sense. Henry’s father was only doing this to keep him safe, but was he doing more than that with this simple button? Had it influenced who Henry was as a person? Yes, and it might have changed him for the worse.
