Pearl Harbor as Seen through Adam’s Eyes
Tracy Wilson
This selection is a portion of a personal review of the book A Boy at War by Harry Mazer
1 In 1941, fourteen year-old Adam Pelko arrived on the peaceful serene islands of Hawaii. Ironically, this will be the least peaceful base assignment his on-the-move Navy family will ever know.
2 Author Harry Mazer masterfully foreshadows the impending bombing of Pearl Harbor with conflicts in the sub-plot of the novel. Adam’s father, an officer assigned to the USS Arizona, insists that Adam end his association with his new friend Davi because his parents are Japanese. Lt. Pelko felt that with the anti-Japanese sentiment on the island, Adam’s friendship with Davi would reflect badly on his family, and, as a result, the United States Navy. The thought of ending the first real friendship he has had for a very long time saddens and angers Adam, who knows that his entire family lives by the unspoken rules of the Navy. This underlying conflict of racism, distrust, and anxiety sets a mood of uneasiness as Adam secretly goes fishing with Davi at Pearl Harbor on that infamous December morning.
3 Numerous documentaries, memoirs, and photographs have been published attempting to illustrate the unexpectedness and viciousness of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor as seen through the eyes of the adults who witnessed it. Mazer uses Adam’s innocence and naivety to examine the attack as seen by an adolescent boy. Knowing that Adam’s father is on the Arizona builds suspense as the reader waits anxiously to find out the fate of Lt. Pelko.
Question
Which quotation from the review indicates that racial tensions are a central conflict in the book?
Responses
A "The thought of ending the first real friendship he has had for a very long time saddens and angers Adam, who knows that his entire family lives by the unspoken rules of the Navy.""The thought of ending the first real friendship he has had for a very long time saddens and angers Adam, who knows that his entire family lives by the unspoken rules of the Navy."
B "In 1941, fourteen year-old Adam Pelko arrived on the peaceful serene islands of Hawaii. Ironically, this will be the most unpeaceful base assignment his on-the-move Navy family will ever know.""In 1941, fourteen year-old Adam Pelko arrived on the peaceful serene islands of Hawaii. Ironically, this will be the most unpeaceful base assignment his on-the-move Navy family will ever know."
C "Author Harry Mazer masterfully foreshadows the impending bombing of Pearl Harbor with conflicts in the sub-plot of the novel. Adam’s father, an officer assigned to the USS Arizona, insists that Adam end his association with his new friend Davi because his parents are Japanese. Lt. Pelko felt that with the anti-Japanese sentiment on the island, Adam’s friendship with Davi would reflect badly on his family, and, as a result, the United States Navy.""Author Harry Mazer masterfully foreshadows the impending bombing of Pearl Harbor with conflicts in the sub-plot of the novel. Adam’s father, an officer assigned to the USS Arizona , insists that Adam end his association with his new friend Davi because his parents are Japanese. Lt. Pelko felt that with the anti-Japanese sentiment on the island, Adam’s friendship with Davi would reflect badly on his family, and, as a result, the United States Navy."
D "Numerous documentaries, memoirs, and photographs have been published attempting to illustrate the unexpectedness and viciousness of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor as seen through the eyes of the adults who witnessed it."