Race

Throughout the novel, race represents an obstacle that Nori must learn to accept and overcome. When she is young, her race and biracial status is a burden to her. Her family constantly presents her race as a source of shame, and Nori must endure chemical baths to make her more acceptable to society. For Nori, "the skin around the burn was wonderfully fair and bright. She wanted all of her skin to look like that" (13). Race is associated with her father, who was an American, an enemy in the war, and also with the end of her mother's marriage and the shame of her bastard birth. In her youth, Nori believes what she has been told about her race, taking this inherited shame on herself.

When Nori meets Akira, her life changes in many ways, including the way she views herself. Unlike the rest of the...