Oranges

Oranges symbolize the lives the Japanese-American detainees had before they came to the internment camp. In "the third property of thirst is memory," Sunny hands out oranges to the new arrivals, and one of the men says that his orchard grows some of the oranges for Sunrise, the brand on the crate. This shows the full lives the detainees had before they were interned. The fact that the man speaks in the present tense shows that he still considers himself to be one of the growers. He still associates with his old life. Sunny then gives the man some of the crates to use as furniture. This shows just how much his state has been reduced as instead of living and working in his orchard, he is now reduced to using the packaging as a table.

Chairs

Chairs represent companionship in this novel. Rocky's ranch is...