English & Literature

Who is Ruth Watanabe Harada from Moloka'i and what is their importance? Moloka'i_(novel) English & Literature Ruth Watanabe Harada | Moloka'i

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This woman's birth name is Ruth Dorothy Utagawa. She is the daughter of Rachel and Kenji, but she is adopted by a Japanese family because all babies born to leprosy victims are taken away by the government. Ruth has fond and loving memories of her adopted family, and when she meets Rachel late in the novel, she tells Rachel about the hardships she and her adopted family during the forced relocations of Japanese people during World War II. Ruth looks like both her mother Rachel and her father Kenji, and in time she develops a close relationship with Rachel.