Genre
Fiction
Setting and Context
The book is set in Hawaii.
Narrator and Point of View
Third-person narrative
Tone and Mood
Sad, overwhelming, gloomy, buoyant
Protagonist and Antagonist
Beccah Bradley is the protagonist of the story.
Major Conflict
The main conflict is that Beccah hates her mother, Akiko, because she believes that she is the cause of his death.
Climax
The climax comes when Akiko shares her life secrets about her past with her daughter, Beccah. At last, Beccah understands why her mother behaved in particular ways, and she made peace with her.
Foreshadowing
Akiko's death foreshadowed Beccah's decision to come to terms with reality.
Understatement
Akiko's hatred towards her husband is understated. Akiko did not marry her husband because of love, but because she did not want to get enslaved any longer. Therefore, she never loved her husband, and she always wished him dead.
Allusions
The story alludes to the challenges the Korean women went through in the concentration camps, which left them traumatized for the rest of her life.
Imagery
The imagery of the concentration camps is evident as described by Akiko. In the Camps, women are sexually abused, and they do have the power to protect themselves. Akiko was the victim of sex slavery in the camp, and that is where she conceived Beccah from.
Paradox
The main paradox is that Beccah lived most of her life thinking Bradley was her biological father, which was not the case. The harsh reality is that Beccah was a product of rape when her mother was serving as a sex slave in the camps.
Parallelism
The live-in concentration camps for women parallel ordinary marriage life.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
The concentration camps are personified as monsters that deprive women of their integrity and identity.
