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What’s Up With the Title?

It's probably pretty clear to you why Manzanar is important in Farewell to Manzanar, so we're not going to dwell on that point.

Farewell on the other hand is good for a small pause. Think of farewell as an act that's all about letting go of trauma and feelings of crisis, so it makes sense that the whole book is about a farewell to Manzanar. After all, Manzanar is the place that represents and forms Jeanne's biggest fears—of being Japanese, of racism, of leaving a small world in favor of the world outside camp.

Saying good-bye to such a place is no easy thing, which is why it takes a whole book to accomplish—and make sense of—the title.