From the outset, the authors establish a normal atmosphere consistent with the lives of all residents of coastal California. A number of details connect the Wakatsuki family with other Americans.
Papa, a proud, hard-working entrepreneur, runs two boats in hopes of paying off his debt to the cannery from a percentage of earned profit.
Like most citizens who heard the news on December 7, 1941, Mama is unfamiliar with Pearl Harbor.
The author stresses a subtle link to the American Revolution by comparing the cannery worker to Paul Revere, a near-legendary figure who rode horseback to warn rural patriots that the British were about to attack the colonists.
To lessen the harshness of FBI paranoia, Jeanne comments diplomatically that agents were "sworn in hastily during the turbulent days right after Pearl Harbor." But, like children everywhere, Jeanne is alarmed that her father, the family's anchor, has disappeared from their lives.
