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Chapters 9-10Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 9 Summary: “November”
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of racism.
Manami decides that one way to take care of Miss Rosalie for Ron is to bring her to her family’s house for a visit. She leads Miss Rosalie from the school to the Tanakas’ barracks, and Mother and Grandfather are welcoming and try to comfort Rosalie. Father, however, is angry, as he believes that Ron only stayed at Manzanar for Rosalie. When Rosalie explains that she begged Ron to return to college, Father relents. Father warns Rosalie to be careful, and Mother asks that she pass on any news she hears.
After walking Miss Rosalie home, Manami sees a new camp dog that she has not seen before. The dog looks like Yujiin, but it quickly vanishes. Outside her family’s barracks, she sees graffiti painted on their wall: “Watch out, traitors” (148). Manami leads her family outside to show them. Father cleans off the letters and says that, from now on, none of them should be outside alone.
The next morning, Father says that the family is going to visit Ron. At the jail, a soldier tells them that they are ready to release Ron. The army fears that Ron will no longer be safe at Manzanar, however, and they would like to transfer him to another concentration camp—in Idaho, or Arizona. Grandfather asks whether Ron can just return to Indiana. The soldier says possibly in the future, but that the paperwork for that will take time. In the meantime, he believes Ron is safer in another camp.
Father, Mother, and Grandfather all tell Ron that he should go to another camp. Ron chooses the one in Idaho, as it is closer to Washington. He hopes that the family might be transferred to join him there eventually, but their goodbye after the visit is tearful.
Mother keeps Manami home from school the following day. Manami helps her pack Ron’s things in preparation for his transfer. When Mother sends her outside, Manami is sure that she feels Yujiin nearby and hears the little dog panting. She runs to where she thought she glimpsed Yujiin the night before. Eventually, Grandfather catches up with her. He picks Manami up and holds her, carrying her back to the safety of their barracks. He tells Manami that Yujiin is not at Manzanar and is not coming. Manami must stop looking for Yujiin. Manami wants to argue, but deep down she knows that Grandfather is right. She is filled with despair.
That night, when she is in bed, she hears Grandfather suggest to her parents that she might be ready to accept a new dog. Father asks why, if Manami has forgotten Yujiin, she still doesn’t speak. Grandfather says she has not forgotten. Manami, however, is “the kind of girl who must have something to care for” (154). As her friendship with a new dog grows, she may find a way to speak again. Father agrees to ask the soldiers if there are any new dogs in camp. Manami wonders if Grandfather is right, and she struggles to fall asleep that night.
The next morning, Mother walks Manami to school. She brings a gift of food for Miss Rosalie. Mother cries when she tells Rosalie that Ron has been sent to Idaho. She hugs Miss Rosalie, and Manami realizes that Mother is trying to take care of Rosalie, too. Although Miss Rosalie is still sad that day in school, Manami notices that she is not as sad as she has been.
After school, she makes a picture of the ocean in the sand outside her family’s barracks. She hears a bark: Father and Mother have brought her a small white dog that looks like Yujiin. As she holds it in her arms, Grandfather tells her that the dog will not replace Yujiin. Instead, Manami’s heart will grow larger, so that it has space for both Yujiin and this new dog. That night, as Manami falls asleep with the new dog curled next to her, she thinks that this is true.
Chapter 10 Summary: “December”
Winter comes. At night, Manami is glad for her new dog’s warmth. Father names him “Seal.” Manami sometimes feels her heart squeezing closed against Seal, because he is not Yujiin, but when Seal shows her affection, she feels her heart opening up again. She misses Ron, and she sees that her parents have grown fearful. The camp is tense, and there are more soldiers around than before.
One night, Manami hears sirens and screaming. In the morning, she learns that a group of masked men have beaten a man, and she is suddenly glad that Ron is in Idaho. That day, a large crowd gathers outside the administration building. Word of a potential riot races through the camp, and many people hide inside their barracks. Finally, a riot does break out, and two boys are shot. School is canceled, and Kimmi and her dog come to stay with the Tanakas during the day while her mother works.
The family receives a letter from Ron. He tells them that Idaho is cold, but the camp is thinly populated, and most of the families there are from Washington and Oregon. The family agrees that they will ask to be transferred to the Idaho camp. Mother writes a note to Rosalie explaining their decision, and Rosalie agrees that it is for the best.
The Block 3 men hold a meeting. They discuss their concerns about safety in the camp; most are also interested in transferring to the Idaho camp. Since Manzanar has a new warden, the Bainbridge Islanders are hopeful that they will be listened to, but when Father tries to schedule a meeting with the warden, he is refused for several days in a row. Finally, he is able to meet with the warden and returns with the happy news that all of the Block 3 families have received permission to transfer to Idaho. They will be moved out in stages, and by January everyone will have been transferred. Manami begins to worry that she will have to leave Seal behind. Mother tells her, “We will hope” (166).
Mother sends Manami to deliver another note to Rosalie. Rosalie is sad that the family is leaving, but she is happy for Ron. Manami tries to memorize everything about Miss Rosalie and the classroom. She draws a picture of it to take to Ron. Mother carefully packs up their belongings and digs up the garden. On the day before the family is scheduled to leave, Mother has Manami help clean the family’s room.
After lunch, Manami walks with Grandfather, who leads her to a frozen puddle of mud. He tells her to take off her shoes and socks and stand in the mud, just as he used to get her to stand barefoot on the beach at home. He tells her to close her eyes and imagine the ocean sounds and smells. She feels calm.
Manami goes to say goodbye to Miss Rosalie. Miss Rosalie tells her, “This will not last forever” (170), and gives her a book of poems to take to Ron. She gives Manami a scarf, some fresh paper, and the address of her aunt and uncle, where she can always be reached even if she is no longer teaching at Manzanar. Manami cries, and Rosalie tells Manami that she is strong and brave and that she loves her.
That evening at dinner, Kimmi tells Manami that she will miss her until her own family is transferred to the Idaho camp. She asks Manami to save her a seat in their new school. Manami’s worries about having to leave Seal behind intensify that night when she lies down for bed, and she struggles to sleep.
In the morning, Manami buttons Seal into her coat. As the family tries to board the bus, a soldier stops her, saying that no dogs are allowed. Manami feels her throat crack open, and she finally speaks: “No! No!” (173). The soldier gives in, and Seal is allowed to board with the family.
As the bus pulls away from Manzanar, Manami looks back at the place that has functioned as her home for many months. She wonders what the new camp will be like and imagines new classmates, new dogs, and a reunion with Ron. Her parents and grandfather walk down the aisle of the bus, happy tears in their eyes because Manami has finally spoken. Manami uses her still-scratchy voice to tell her family that she loves them and to say Seal’s name aloud for the first time.
Chapters 9-10 Analysis
Although Ron’s arrest is devastating for the family, illustrating the novel’s theme of The Problem of Unjust Persecution, it ends up leading to an improvement in the Tanakas’ circumstances. It also sets in motion the chain of circumstances that will lead to Manami finally finding her voice again, resolving the novel’s central conflict. Ron’s transfer to Idaho also leads to Grandfather suggesting that Seal be brought into the family, and in Manami’s love for Seal, she discovers new parts of herself—including a strength she did not know she had.
Seal’s arrival in Manami’s life is foreshadowed twice in Chapter 9, with the brief appearances of the little white dog that Manami mistakes for Yujiin. These appearances also demonstrate Manami’s desperation to be reunited with Yujiin, reflecting The Emotional and Psychological Effects of Imprisonment on Children. Despite the months that have passed since Manami and Yujiin were separated, Manami still fantasizes that somehow Yujiin will find his way to Manzanar. She even disobeys her father’s instructions against family members going off alone by chasing after the little white dog she sees, because being with Yujiin is all she can think about. When Grandfather sees her off on her own, he is alarmed enough to finally be blunt with her: She must stop looking for Yujiin and imagining that they will somehow be reunited. This is very difficult for Manami to hear, but it is the message she needs at this moment. Her reluctant acceptance of Grandfather’s words primes her for what comes next: the introduction of Seal into her life.
Grandfather’s words about Manami in Chapter 9 add another layer of complexity to the novel’s consideration of what people owe themselves and others. He explains to Manami’s parents that adopting a new dog will be good for her, because it will give her something other than herself to take care of. This makes the point that sometimes, taking care of others is also a form of self-care. Manami’s Chapter 9 urge to take care of Rosalie, like her rescue of Mother’s garden during the rainstorm earlier, suggests that Grandfather’s characterization of Manami is correct—Manami is very much motivated by taking care of things and people, and it is healthy for her to do so. Grandfather knows that her failure to take care of Yujiin was the initial shock that shut down Manami’s ability to speak, and he believes that Ron’s arrest and transfer to the Idaho concentration camp could be another crisis for his granddaughter. Another dog will help her see that she truly is still able to take care of things she loves.
Grandfather’s explanation of how Manami’s heart will grow to make room for Seal is, in a larger sense, a commentary on The Importance of Resilience and Adaptation. The Tanakas once believed in a particular vision of the future and their country, but these visions are now lost, just as Yujiin is lost to Manami. The Tanakas will have to develop new ways of understanding and new hopes for the future. The family shows their determination to thrive and build a better future when they decide to ask for a transfer to the Idaho camp where Ron is. It means uprooting themselves again and taking a risk on a camp they know relatively little about, but it is a chance to stay together as a family, and perhaps will create a happier life than the one they have at Manzanar.
This move to Idaho precipitates the climax of the novel’s action. Manami once again finds herself being moved to another concentration camp with a beloved dog snuggled inside her coat, and once again soldiers tell her “No dogs allowed” (173). Although her voice has been silent for many months at Manzanar, she summons her hope and courage and tells the soldiers “No!” (173) over and over. Although her protests were ineffective in saving Yujiin last time, this time the soldiers are persuaded, and Seal is saved. This demonstrates to Manami that it is important to keep trying and that, when she believes in her own strength and courage, she can make positive changes in her life after all. The return of Manami’s voice suggests that, as she heads off to Idaho and an uncertain future, she will face whatever comes with hope and determination.
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