Family Systems Theory and Farewell to Manzanar
Family roles
According to Bowen Family Systems Theory, all family members engage in role-playing beyond those of the conventional roles of 'daughter,' 'husband,' 'son,' and 'father' in relation to one another. Much like characters in a play, family members have other, unstated roles which they develop as the result of 'triangulation' or relationships with other family members. Frequently, these roles are dysfunctional. At the beginning of Farewell to Manzanar, the father of the Wakatsuki clan, Ko Wakatsuki, plays the role of a traditional, patriarchal authority. He attempts to recreate the dynamic that he regards as 'correct,' with the father's will dominating over that of his wife and children. His daughter Jeanne idolizes him.
However, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the family is relocated to a Japanese detention center where they must live in a collective environment with other Japanese-Americans who are being forcibly confined because of their race. No longer able to eat together with his children and wife, Ko loses...
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