I was really interesting and intrigued by the way Otsuko chose to change the point of view every chapter, and have only one chapter for each. It was like it was not just one person's story, but the entire family's and possible even their entire culture. I enjoyed getting to see the story through all perspectives, because it seemed different each time.
Ostuko also did not give each of the character's names, which I thought also spoke towards the fact that when discussing the family she was speaking for all Japanese-American's at that time. The store was subtle and very down to earth, and I found myself speeding right through it. But when I got to the last chapter, when the father spoke, I felt like I had been punched in the stomach. In the last chapter the man rambles off a list of grievances, of things that would be expected of him by Americans. He "admits" to all of the crimes he was suspected of in order to go. And suddenly, I really understood the position of these people. They had pride too, they had their own ideals to uphold; and they were treated like none of that mattered. While the conditions of the camps, and the awful situation gave me a look into what had happened, the last chapter really pulled it together for me.
I think Otsuko did this completely on purpose. How can someone look at a man, who is just trying to do well for his family and accuse him of all of these things, based on something so vague? While I felt like three years was a lot to cover for the length of the book, I really enjoyed reading it and felt like I gained a better understanding of the topic.
I agree. Reading the last chapter was not that easy. I also liked how the book was written through the entire family's eyes. It was very interesting aand not like anything else I'd read.
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