Henry’s Mother Character Analysis in Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Henry’s mother is gentle and quiet, and she almost always defers to her husband, Henry’s father. However, there are some clear differences between Henry’s two parents. Henry’s mother seems much more concerned with her son’s wellbeing, even as she allows her husband to dictate Henry’s future. When Henry is upset, his mother allows him to speak Cantonese to express how he’s feeling. She also makes the bold move of delivering one of Keiko’s letters, a birthday card, to her son, without her husband knowing. Despite his strained relationship with his father (and the fact that his mother often takes his father’s side), Henry has a special bond with his mother, and demonstrates this bond by buying her favorite flower, a starfire lily, at the market for her every week.

Henry’s Mother Quotes in Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet quotes below are all either spoken by Henry’s Mother or refer to Henry’s Mother. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

Belonging, Bigotry, and Identity Theme Icon

).

“[My father]’s disowned me. My parents stopped speaking to me this week. But my mother still sort of acts like I’m around.” The words came out so casually, even Henry was surprised at how normal it felt. But communication in his home had been far from ordinary for almost a year; this was just a new, final wrinkle.

Related Characters: Henry Lee (speaker), Keiko Okabe, Henry’s Father, Henry’s Mother

Page Number and Citation: 193

Explanation and Analysis: