Farewell to Manzanar Freedom and Confinement Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Part.Chapter.Paragraph)

Quote #4

The people who had it hardest during the first few months were young couples like these, many of whom had married just before the evacuation began, in order not to be separated and sent to different camps. Our two rooms were crowded, but at least it was all in the family. My oldest sister and her husband were shoved into one of those sixteen-by-twenty-foot compartments with six people they had never seen before—two other couples, one recently married like themselves, the other with two teenage boys. (1.2.27)

Here's an example of what living conditions are like in the internment camps. Not pleasant are they? Maybe things would be different if everyone were single, but this was clearly not the case for the internees.

Quote #5

We woke early, shivering and coated with dust that had blown up through the knotholes and in through the slits around the doorway. During the night Mama had unpacked all our clothes and heaped them on our beds for warmth. Now our cubicle looked as if a great laundry bag had exploded and then been sprayed with fine dust. A skin of sand covered the floor. (1.3.1)

Apparently, even as confined as they are, the internees can't be confined enough from the sand.

Quote #6

"Those matters are out of my hands, Mr. Wakatsuki."

"Whose hands are they in?"

"I do not like North Dakota any more than you do. The sooner we finish these questions, the sooner we'll both be out of here."

"And where will you go when you leave?" (1.7.61-64)

This exchange is from the (possibly imagined) interview between Papa and his interrogator at Fort Lincoln. It's a good reminder that interrogators, guards, etc. had homes to go back to after their jobs were done. Which means they had an incentive to do their jobs quickly… and not necessarily well.