Chapter 15 is narrated from Fujiko's point of view, chronicling the time she and her daughters spent being transported to and living at Manzanar. Fujiko notices the islanders who watch those of Japanese descent who had not been arrested — namely the women and children — board the ferry, but she refuses to acknowledge them. During the transport, Fujiko refuses to speak of her own discomfort because she tries to model for her daughters what she considers to be appropriate behavior.
This chapter describes the treatment of Japanese-Americans at Manzanar. Again, specific details — like having to wash in a trough but being given no soap — make the scene come alive. Living conditions at best are difficult, but the inhabitants don't complain too much; they survive the best that they can.
Fujiko intercepts and reads Ishmael's letter to Hatsue. Fujiko, understandably upset, forces herself to "behave with dignity" as she confronts her daughter. Fujiko claims Hatsue has been deceiving both her mother and herself. Much of Fujiko's rage stems from the fact that thoughts of romance are not a part of Fujiko's own life. She, herself, was deceived with her arranged marriage. Fujiko ended up learning to live with her husband, and "she found that she had learned to love him, if love was the proper word to use, and it occurred to her then . . . that love was nothing close to what she'd imagined. . . . It was less dramatic and far more practical than her girlhood had led her to believe." Thus, Fujiko's marriage is a result of her conscious decision to stay married to Hisao — not out of any sort of romantic love.
