Farewell to Manzanar

Farewell To Manzana - Foreword - Chapter 5

When the family is given forty-eight hours to leave Terminal Island, Mama destroys her porcelain dinner set. Why?

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Mama cannot move the set of porcelain china because there is no room for it in the car, thus, she tries to sell it. When the dealer offers her an insulting low price, she smashes the dishes to the floor rather than accept his offer.

He watched her for a moment and said he was sure he couldn’t pay more than seventeen fifty for that china. She reached into the red velvet case, took out a dinner plate and hurled it at the floor right in front of his feet.
Source(s)

Houston, Jeanne Wakatsuki; Houston, James D.. Farewell to Manzanar (p. 14). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kindle Edition.