Hotel On The Corner of Bitter And Sweet Essay

A father-son relationship strained by a war and a forbidden childhood love affected many people and multiple generations. The novel Hotel On The Corner of Bitter And Sweet is centered around Henry, a Chinese man living in Seattle in two timelines, during World War 2 in 1942 and his life in 1986. During his childhood he lived with his mother and very traditional Chinese father, and spent time with his older jazz musician friend Sheldon. After Pearl Harbor in World War 2 all Japanese people were sent to internment camps, which were prison camps, until the war ended. After Henry meets Keiko, a Japanese girl at his school, their friendship faces many obstacles including his father who has prejudice against Japanese people. When they fall in love as she's being sent to an internment camp, they struggle to stay together and ultimately lose touch after a few years of back-and-forth letters. He eventually marries his wife Ethel and has a son named Marty, although Ethel dies of cancer. Henry spends time with Marty and his fiancé Samantha, who he recently met. In the novel Hotel On The Corner of Bitter And Sweet by Jamie Ford, Henry and his father's relationship verses Henry and Marty's relationship can compared and contrasted by looking at their communication, how Ethel and Samantha affect the relationships, and how they change over time.

The bad communication between Henry and his father negatively affected Henry’s future relationships, especially with Marty. After he says goodbye to Keiko before she moves to an internment camp in Idaho, Henry regrets not sharing his true feelings and has the realization that, "His father was a horrible communicator. After all the time he'd rebelled against his father's wishes and his father's ways, Henry hated the fact that he wasn’t that different from him at all--not where it mattered anyway" (Ford 209). Growing up with his father as his main influence, the way he showed his love and his bad communication were taught and engraved in Henry. When he chooses to leave things unresolved with Keiko, he starts to understand that his father’s influence has affected his ability to communicate his emotions. Throughout his adult life, Henry struggles to open up to Marty because his idea of a father-son relationship is based on his own which was full of silence and secrets. A major communication similarity between Henry and Marty and Henry and his father is that many of their conversations are tense or full of conflict. Because of these negative interactions, they often act reserved around each other as a defense. At the beginning of the book, Henry and Marty ate together at a dim sum restaurant, but avoided each other's questions, and "There was much to say and ask, but neither Henry nor Marty inched closer to the subject. They just waited for the server, who would soon be bringing more tea and orange slices" (Ford 40). Despite Henry’s earlier realization that his similarities with his father interfered with his relationship with Keiko, the same this happens with Marty. The language gap and disagreements with henry and his father created silence between them for years at a time. Because he was used to limited communication with his father in his childhood, speaking about important things with his son is out of Henry’s comfort zone. Instead of breaking down the walls they put up, Henry and Marty choose to wait for someone else to ease their discomfort. As a result of their damaged communication, both Henry and his father and Henry and Marty often use other people to rebuild their relationships.

The way Ethel and Samantha bridge the relationships together by opening the door for communication is similar while their impacts are different. In 1945, Henry is haring with Sheldon that his father has started speaking to him after years of silence, saying that, "'now he wants his proud son back, and I don't know how to feel. So I just let Ethel talk to him, and that seems to work'" (Ford 258). Henry’s father’s approval of Ethel helps to heal the relationship, although it can’t mend the hurt he caused Henry through his disapproval of Keiko. Since Henry didn’t fully communicate his past to Ethel, she can’t mend their relationship because their problems are more complex than she knows. Even though Henry is happy that his father wants to speak with him again, he lets Ethel talk to him to avoid being hurt again. Marty also avoids sharing things like Samantha with Henry because he’s afraid of being hurt or unaccepted. After Marty tells Henry the secret that he's getting married, Henry meets his fiancé Samantha who immediately hugs him, so, "Henry patted her, trying to beath, then gave in and hugged her back. Looking over her shoulder-smiling-Henry gave Marty a thumbs up" (81). A major turning point in Henry and Marty’s struggling relationship is when Henry approves of Samantha. In the past Marty felt That Henry didn’t respect his decisions or ideas, especially Ethel’s care when she was sick, so Henry’s approval of Samantha was an important moment in improving their relationship and communication. His new view on Henry makes them feel more bonded and comfortable sharing with each other in the future. This first moment of Samantha and Henry connecting and Henry giving into the hug foreshadows when Samantha often gets Henry to finally share about his past with her and Marty. While both Samantha and Ethel impact them in positive ways, the relationships are very complex causing them to change in different ways and be left with very different outcomes. 

A significant difference between the relationships was that Henry and Marty's bond improved overtime, while Henry and his father's relationship weakens. In 1945, when Henry's father died after revealing he interfered with Henry's relationship and letters to Keiko, Henry runs into the street to search for her in a panic and, "All he could do was hold his breath, and the anger at his father, as he scanned the street" (Ford 264). Henry’s father once again tried to do what he thought was best for his son, but ended up hurting Henry. This proves to henry that he hasn’t changed and doesn’t respect him or his decisions. He never resolves things with his father, and their relationship ends with his father happy, but Henry betrayed and angry. The reason they were never able to heal or improve was because his father didn’t consider Henry’s feelings. He never made an effort to fix the hurt he caused because he viewed that all his actions were correct and done out of love for Henry. However Marty and Henry are able to improve their bond by changing their actions and getting a better understanding of each other. In a conversation between Marty and Henry about Keiko and the possibility of finding her, Henry explained why he hadn't done so and he, "watched his son listen; for the first time in many years, Marty seemed content to listen. Not to argue" (Ford 268). Just as Marty was shocked by Henry’s approval of Samantha, Henry is surprised by Marty choosing to listen and understand him. They take small steps throughout the book to heal their strained relationship, but fixing their communication was the largest step. When Henry shares with Marty, he shows him that he’s willing to be venerable and honest with him. Henry feels respected when Marty introduces Samantha and  listens to him because it proves he considers his father’s feelings and wants his approval. This all helps to heal their relationship because they can finally communicate and make an effort to show how much they love and care about each other’s happiness. Henry and Marty are able to mend their relationship despite being affected by Henry and his father whose relationship ended up as damaged as ever.

The father-son relationships in the novel were similar and different in their communication, the impact Ethel and Samantha made, and how they evolved. After a childhood of isolation and struggling to communicate with his father, Henry couldn’t correctly connect with the people he loved and it created a lot of miscommunication and conflict between him and Marty. Although Ethel made Henry’s father proud and Henry feel more loved by his father, his father continued to be manipulative and keep him apart from Keiko who made him happy. When Henry approved of Samantha, Marty was surprised and saw his father in a better light, and Henry had the realization Marty was scared to be honest with him, which he needed to fix. Since Henry was always hurt and angry at his father who never made an effort to change, their relationship ended with all of their conflicts unresolved. On the other hand, Marty and Henry slowly improve their relationship and form an emotional connection and trust Henry and his father never had. While people can change and improve a lot on their own, they need to confront past harmful relationships before they can fully repair their present ones.