Sylvia And Aki

The first part of the novel is told separately, both in perspective and in time, but introduces the important themes and symbols of the book, many of which are intertwined. The major obstacle that Sylvia and Aki face is reflected in the theme of Segregation/Incarceration Versus Freedom. Sylvia is denied the freedom of educational opportunity; she is instead forced to attend Hoover School simply because of her ethnicity and her falsely perceived inferiority. Sylvia’s growing awareness of this theme is her observance of racist signage in Westminster and her fixation on hands, which represent how she is noticing class and ethnicity. The white secretary’s hands at Westminster are always busy typing, while her Mexican American father’s darker hands are meticulously clean but callused from his laborious farm work. Keiko’s hands, too, are pale and delicate, hinting at the educational privilege Aki received that Sylvia does not.

In contrast—though the connection remains subtle in this section—is the symbolism of farming as equality. Both the Munemitsus and the Mendezes are farmers who nurture the land and produce food necessary for survival, in this case, asparagus. As Japanese Americans and Latinos, they both suffer from the segregation and discriminatory measures established by the white majority. Though on the surface, they may seem pitted against each other (e.g., Aki attending Westminster though Sylvia can’t), the farm arrangement is mutually beneficial—the Mendezes care for the Munemitsus land while achieving a personal dream. Though subtle, this proves that integration and diversity are more helpful and healthy than the segregation currently in place.

The theme of Segregation/Incarceration Versus Freedom is foregrounded in what happens to Aki’s family and other Japanese Americans after Pearl Harbor. Aki experiences racist retaliation and discrimination in the form of racist signage, boycotted shops, and Chinese versus Japanese distinctions. The government’s decision to inter Japanese Americans leads to Aki’s physical removal from and the loss of her home as she and her family are relocated to Poston. Along with thousands of other Japanese Americans, she is literally segregated and incarcerated despite no criminal activity, and her freedoms are stripped from her.

This relocation introduces the second theme, Endurance. Aki and her family must endure the injustice of their losses and the humiliation of Poston’s barely habitable spartan arrangements: complete lack of privacy, harsh land and climate, and forced separation from Family. Sylvia must also endure, in this case, by attending the second-class and dismal Hoover School, which not only offers a subpar education but also presents a physical danger to students in the form of the electric fence and dirty flies. Both Sylvia and Aki hope that their respective arrangements are temporary and that they can last until the end.

Their ability to endure stems mainly from the third theme, Family. Family is integral to Sylvia’s and Aki’s lives as a support system and an integral part of their identity. Aki is devastated when her father is taken away and when she is separated from her mother and brother when she gets sick. Her mother cries in public for the first time when they are reunited at Poston, indicating how hard the separation has been for her as well. Seiko, who acted as an interpreter for their father in the past and who legally owns their farm, must replace their father to hold the family together.

The importance of family and its connection to their cultural heritage is symbolized by the letters, photos, and other memorabilia that the Munemitsus must sort and destroy before their incarceration. These include traditional dishes and family heirlooms from Japan, photos of Aki’s parents when they married in Japan, and photos of Seiko as a child, which remind the family of their tenuous connection between Japan and the United States. These items, such as Aki’s doll, show pride in their heritage, while the loss or repression/hiding of them shows how others’ hatred of their culture puts them at risk; assimilation is, therefore, key to enduring and surviving. As long as the family remains, so, too, will the memories.

Sylvia views her Family in a similar light. Her doll, Carmencita, depicts her pride in her heritage (the memorabilia symbolism), but without her father and aunt to fight for her, she would remain vulnerable to the systemic discrimination and segregation set against her. It is her father who refuses to bow to Westminster’s demands, declaring that attending Hoover is only temporary. He organizes a petition in the Latinx community to fight, but even without their support, he remains determined. It is because of him that Sylvia can endure and believe in the ideals he dreams for them.

The final theme introduced in this section is Friendship. This theme is presented mostly from Sylvia’s perspective, as she and Aki have yet to meet. As Sylvia finds Aki’s belongings and wonders about her, her empathy and curiosity grow to the point that Sylvia wonders if the girls could ever be friends. This desire is represented by the symbolism of the dolls as friendship. Without Aki there to interact with in person, Sylvia acts out her curiosity through her play, naming Aki’s doll “Keiko” in an effort to connect with Aki’s Japanese culture, imitating the doll’s pose and, most significantly, placing Keiko and Carmencita together and declaring their sisterhood. In this way, Sylvia’s actions foreshadow the events to come.