The Library's California Reads book discussions were so well-attended that it was a bit difficult to really have a conversation about our featured book, Farewell to Manzanar. I wanted to talk more about the breakdown of family structure in the camps. Houston shows very clearly how the fathers lost their leadership roles, how kids became more strongly connected to peer groups, and how the young adults assumed leadership, sometimes in radical ways. Accustomed as I am to looking for deeper meanings in literature, I find myself thinking about the internment camp as a stronger version of what happens more slowly to many immigrant families. Perhaps in some ways it happens to all families today as the peer group takes over for the individual family structure, and many of us, like Houston's family, wonder what happened to our family dinners. I also find myself thinking about the US government's efforts to change American Indian cultures through the reservation and allotment systems, about the effects of the AFDC system on African-American family structure in the 60's. We can have a conversation about the book here!
