Multiethnic Literatures in the U.S.

In the last section of the book, Cynthia Kadohata begins to summarize the message of her book. “Besides, I was no longer going to school from hope but from fear. I was not going because there were classes I was interested in or things that I wanted but because there were things I did not want”(p. 179). This summarizes how everyone usually goes about life. People go to work or school because of hope or fear. People work with the hope that they can make good money and provide for themselves and their families. On the other hand, we also go to work because we fear that we may end up without enough money and fall into the lower class. We go to school because it is a step towards getting a job. We also go because we fear that we will not get a good job and struggle throughout life. To put this in terms of the book, people go to work and school with the hope of being part of the upper class of Los Angeles in the 2050’s, or the fear that they may end up being blocked off the nice parts of the city.

These two themes are present in many parts of book. For example, Aunt Annie constantly writes letters to anyone that has information about Rohn. She has hope that he is still alive or that she can get him out of jail. Francie also has hope with Rohn. “I was so certain Rohn would return that my worry now was not whether he could come back, but what he would be like and how he had changed”(p. 219). Francie assumes that he is coming back and assumes that he is different. Even the small actions in the book are made because of hope or fear. Every time Francie and her friends leave their homes, they bring Mace or guns with them. Francie constantly grasps the Mace in her pocket with the fear that she may be attacked or robbed. She also keeps it in her pocket with the hope that it will protect her if those events ever occur. These two themes seem to compliment each other throughout the book.

Another theme that is also shown throughout the book is love. Aunt Annie obviously loves Rohn and shows it by staying with him throughout his troubles and searching for him when he was nowhere to be found. Jewel and Teddy were a more complicated couple. She stayed with him, bailed him out of jail, and defended him even though he beat her because she felt that she loved him. At the end of the book, she leaves to go east because there were no reasons to stay. She obviously did not love Teddy anymore. Then there is Francie and Mark. They go through good and bad times together and never seem to think about not having each other. They act as if to say if they are going to get through the rough times in that city, they are going to do it together.

With all the changes, destruction, and chaos in the book, three themes are held constant throughout the book. Even in the end of the book when Francie decides to stay in Los Angeles she does so because she is in love with Mark, she fears that she may lose that love if she goes somewhere else, and she hopes that things will get better. One of the messages Kadohata tries to send is that these three things can be present no matter how bad the world is. The only bad thing about this book is that it portrays no solution to the problems going on throughout the book. Kadohata warns the readers that this may be how life is like in the future if things don’t change now. There will be unbalanced social classes, riots, and chaos. Living with hope, love, and fear will not solve these problems.

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