Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Father-son relationships form the heart of this novel. In exploring this dynamic, the text centers upon three dynamics: Henry and his father, Henry and Sheldon, and Henry and Marty. Each dynamic explores a different aspect of father-son relationships. With Henry and his father, the novel explores how father-son relationships can fracture irreparably. Sheldon’s character serves as a surrogate father for Henry, demonstrating the crucial role other paternal figures can play in a child’s life and reinforcing how powerful a healthy father-son dynamic can be. With Henry and his own son Marty, the novel explores how fractured relationships can heal and strengthen, particularly through mutual love, trust, and understanding.

In the case of Henry’s father, Mr. Lee follows many Chinese traditions and cannot accept that his son has developed modern ideas, particularly regarding intermingling with people of Japanese ancestry. Henry’s father also enforces his own idea of who Henry should be rather than encouraging Henry to discover his own identity. This is apparent when he makes Henry wear the “I am Chinese” button but forbids him from speaking Chinese at home. He envisions his son traveling to China to complete his education and refuses to abide any deviation from tradition. Though Henry’s father insists that he does all these things—even interfering in Henry’s relationship with Keiko—for Henry, these actions are more attempts to preserve his idea of Henry than any effort to ensure Henry’s happiness or well-being. All these circumstances create distance between Henry and his father, as Henry observes: “The lack of meaningful communication between father and son was based on a lifetime of isolation” (61). The constant miscommunications and misunderstandings exacerbate this isolation until their frail relationship fractures entirely.

Sheldon, meanwhile, provides a surrogate paternal presence in Henry’s life, one characterized with acceptance, support, and selfless affection. He takes Henry’s school lunches because he knows Henry will be bullied for them otherwise. He appreciates and encourages Henry’s love for jazz. He acknowledges and accepts Henry’s relationship with Keiko, and he gives Henry the precious Oscar Holden record to make them both happy. He even joins Henry on a trip to visit Keiko, providing Henry with the support and encouragement he does not receive from his own father. It is likely through Sheldon’s positive example that Henry is able to mend the rift that exists between him and his own son, Marty.

At the beginning of the novel it seems the father-son divide continues between Henry and Marty. For the sake of his relationship with Ethel, Henry has kept many details of his life secret from his son, and this has created a barrier between them. Henry even wonders if this intergenerational conflict is somehow hereditary, reflecting that “whatever stumbling methods of communication Henry had used with his own father seemed to have been passed down to Marty” (61). But throughout the novel this father-son pair takes leaps of faith toward reconciliation. Marty introduces Henry to his white fiancée Samantha, despite his fears of Henry’s rejection or disapproval, and Henry reciprocates that demonstration of trust by revealing his history with Keiko and inviting Marty and Samantha to sort through the belongings in the Panama Hotel basement. These demonstrations of trust, love, and compassion bring Henry and Marty closer together, and they also enable the novel’s ending, as Henry and Keiko are finally reunited thanks to Marty’s efforts.