Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Belonging, Bigotry, and Identity
Silence vs. Communication
Family Dynamics and Inheritance
Memory
Love and Self-Sacrifice
Summary
Analysis
Henry and Sheldon take the bus home. Henry feels strangely comforted knowing that there is nothing more he can do to disappoint his father, but he is still worried about his mother and how concerned she must be for his safety. Henry parts ways with Sheldon, and arrives home to “numbing” silence. On his bed he finds a white suit. In the jacket pocket is an envelope containing a ticket to China. Henry’s mother appears in the doorway. “Your father has decided you can go to Canton now,” she says, “to finish your Chinese schooling.” Henry is sure his father wants to keep him away from Keiko, but a part of him still wants to go to China “to be able to come back with an understanding of what made his father who he [is].”
In this passage, Henry’s father is shown to be incredibly stubborn and as domineering as ever. Furthermore, Henry’s father’s version of what his son’s happiness should look like has blinded him to the fact that Henry is already—finally—happy. Another important aspect of this passage is the fact that Henry partially does want to go to school in China so that he can finally understand his father. This suggests that Henry does love his father, despite the harsh treatment he has received at his hands.
Themes
Henry and his mother quarrel. “I won’t fit in there any more than I fit in at the all-white school he sent me to,” Henry says. “Haven’t I done enough?” Henry feels “his resolve crumble” in the face of his mother’s insistence. Henry’s mother tells him the tickets are for the following week, and he should expect to be in China for three or four years. Henry refuses. “You have no choice,” his mother says. “This is decided.”
Henry’s mother ultimately does not side with her son. She, like Henry’s father, seems unable to recognize how much of his happiness Henry has already sacrificed to appease his parents. Henry’s fears about not belonging in China once again emphasize the difficulty many first-generation Americans face, of fitting in neither in America nor in their parents’ home country/culture.
Themes
Henry holds his ground: “I will decide,” he says. “I’m the same age Father was when he left.” Henry asks his mother to tell his father that he won’t go to China until the war is over and Keiko comes home. “I cannot tell him,” Henry’s mother says. “Then do as I’ve done these past years,” replies Henry. “Say nothing.” Henry’s mother tells him he is as stubborn as his father. Though it pains him to say it, Henry says: “He made me what I am.”
This is a pivotal moment for Henry. He seems to have finally struck a tenable balance between seeking his own happiness and doing what is asked of him by his parents, who have sacrificed so much to see him succeed. Furthermore, Henry is asserting his own will against both his mother’s and father’s, showing how much confidence he has gained as a result of all he’s been through.
Themes
