Genre
HIstorical Fiction
Setting and Context
California, prior to 1943, within the Japanese immigrant community
Narrator and Point of View
First person narrator, sharing the point of view of all of the brides together
Tone and Mood
Frightening and confusing; threatening
Protagonist and Antagonist
The brides are the protagonists. The Japanese Government are the antagonists, altering the people's perception of their Japanese immigrant neighbors by the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
Major Conflict
World War Two is the major conflict in the book, specifically after the bombing of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese.
Climax
Pearl Harbor is the climax of the book, affecting both the perception of what has gone before, and the way in which the Japanese in the community are viewed moving forwards.
Foreshadowing
Pearl Harbor foreshadows the shift in the way the Japanese are treated and viewed, and after the bombing attack, feared.
Understatement
The brides tell us that many of the men were different from their descriptions. This is hugely understated as many were completely unrecognizable.
Allusions
The book alludes to the wartime propaganda and the way in which the Japanese were feared.
Imagery
The author creates vivid imagery of the Japanese areas of the city, involving the reader's senses of vision, smell and hearing.
Paradox
The brides feel that their children will have an easier life than they did because they are first generation Americans, but the opposite is true, because neither the white American community or the Japanese émigré community embraces or wants them.
Parallelism
There is a parallel between the way in which the Brides found it difficult to get work when they arrived in the country, and the way in which their children have the same difficulty.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
The Brides are treated as one group, never individually characterized but briefly described with a sentence or two at the most, and for the most part dealt with en masse by the author.
Personification
No specific examples
