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"they met in Seattle five years before the Great Fire, wed, and raised six sons. Arthur, the youngest, was the only one to remain on Puget Sound" (19). According to archaeologists, the people of Puget Sound inhabited the area for roughly 10,000 years. For years they lived in unity and divided themselves into different tribes “The Lushootseed Peoples of Puget Sound Country.” ::: American Indians of the Pacific Northwest Collection ::: content.lib.washington.edu/aipnw/thrush.html. -
"Settlers arrived--mostly wayward souls and eccentrics who had meandered off the Oregon Trail" (7) Settlers saw that Puget Sound was a perfect area to have whether it be for a new passage or for a trading system. The author includes this quote in the beginning of the book to start of the themes of death in this novel Center for the Study of the Pacific Northwest, www.washington.edu/uwired/outreach/cspn/Website/Classroom%20Materials/Pacific%20Northwest%20History/Lessons/Lesson%208/8.html. -
"Them Japanese couldn't own land," said Etta. "So I don't see how them Miyamotos could think they owned ours" (62). The Alien Land Laws were created and applied mostly to Japanese immigrant farmers in California. Etta Heine, the most unlikeable character in the novel, attempts to bring these laws up to suggest that the Miyamotos never owned her land. “California Alien Land Law of 1913.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Dec. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Alien_Land_Law_of_1913. -
"By Pearl Harbor Day there were eight hundred and forty-three people of Japanese descent living there, including twelve seniors at Amity Harbor High School who did not graduate that spring"(41). In the morning of December 7, 1942, unexpected Japanese Navy attacked and bombed the US base, Pearl Harbor. The events of Pearl Harbor would unjustly affect every Japanese American family “What Happened At Pearl Harbor?” Imperial War Museums, www.iwm.org.uk/history/what-happened-at-pearl-harbor. -
"It was all propaganda," added Ishmael. "They wanted us to be able to kill them with no remorse, to make them less than people” (166) After the events of Pearl Harbor and the announcement of America announcing its status in war, there was an influx of propaganda and racist graphics too encouraged young men to enlist in war. “When Art Meets Army: The Dangerous Propaganda of World War II.” Home, www.ohiohistory.org/learn/collections/history/history-blog/2017/august-2017/ralphwilliams. -
"They'd been married at the Manzanar internment camp in a tar paper Buddhist chapel" (45). Franklin D. Roosevelt signed “executive order 9066” in hopes that it would halt information to be spread to the enemy. These camps were small and dehumanizing and people such as Hatsue and Kabuo would often get married in this spaces. History.com Editors. “Japanese Internment Camps.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 29 Oct. 2009, www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/japanese-american-relocation. -
“On Tarawa he had seen the bodies of men who had died facedown in shallow water” (28). The battle of Tarawa was a bloody battle between Japan and the US to seize a heavily fortified Japanese controlled island. The author included this quote as symbolism and to represent water as a symbol of death throughout his novel. History.com Editors. “Battle of Tarawa.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 17 Nov. 2009, www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-tarawa. -
“I don't love you, Ishmael. I can think of no more honest way to say it. From the very beginning, when we were little children, it seemed to me something was wrong” (170). Dear John letters were common though in Ishmael's case it was from a relationship rarely accepted of in society LaRue, Elizabeth, et al. “Dear John Letter - The 1940's WWII Soldier • 1940s.Org.” The 1940's • 1940-1949 • Fashion History Movies Music, 29 June 2019, 1940s.org/dear-john-an-unwanted-letter-1940s-wwii-soldier. -
"Carl, Art recalled, had served as a gunner on the U.S.S. Canton, which went down during the invasion of Okinawa" (11). The battle of Okinawa was one of the last gruesome battles of WW2. The Author uses this quote to express the irony of Carl Heins death, since he survived such a violent battle but would die such a pitiful death. History.com Editors. “Battle of Okinawa.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 29 Oct. 2009, www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-okinawa. -
“One hundred and seventy islanders turned out for Arthur's funeral, which was held on a warm, cloudless day in June at the San Piedro Memorial Cemetery”(169). In 1958, President Eisenhower approved the construction to memorialize Pearl Harbor. Ishmael’s father being from the military during the time of Pearl Harbor would be memorialized well in San Piedro “Description of the Memorial.” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, www.nps.gov/perl/learn/description-of-the-park.htm.