Manzanar, U.S.A.
- Just in case you're wondering, Manzanar means apple orchard in Spanish.
- And if you're into history, narrator Jeanne gives a small account of how Owens Valley (where Manzanar is located) turned from lush, green land to total desert. (Hint: It was all about Los Angeles.)
- By the time her family moves to block 28 at Manzanar, there are only a few pear and apple trees left. Papa ends up tending to those trees.
- How did they move to block 28 anyway?
- Jeanne's mother finagles them into those barracks once another family relocates, and it's a total score for the family: their living space doubles, there are real ceilings, and they even have tiled floors.
- Adding to the improvements is the fact that even though Papa still brews his own alcohol, he's not drinking as much.
- Instead, he's got hobbies now, like hiking (they're allowed to go outside of camp by this point), woodcarving, creating rock gardens, and painting.
- Papa especially likes to paint the mountains surrounding them—you know, because they're inspirational and all that.
- In fact, camp in general turns out a lot better than before.
- People create and tend to all types of gardens, and there's even a farm right outside of the camp that's cultivated to provide food for the camp's occupants.
- Plus they have Boy Scouts, beauty parlors, all sorts of clubs, movies, tennis courts… it's a bit like suburbia.
- Papa and Woody make peace about the war, agreeing that Woody won't volunteer but will wait for the army to draft him.
- In the meantime, Woody works at the general store.
- Kiyo waits for sandstorms so that he can find and sell arrowheads to the old men in the camp, and Ray is in a football league.
- Jeanne's sister Lillian's a singer in a band, and Bill leads a dance band. There are tons of dances.
- The camp even issues a high school yearbook.
- One yearbook has a picture of a woman with her dogs; in the background are the Sierras and a bare, winter path. Jeanne can't decide if the landscape looks like it's swallowing the woman and the dogs, or if the woman and dogs are floating in the landscape. Metaphor?