Question

Why did Henry’s father send him to Rainer rather than a Chinese school?

(This is from the novel Hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet)
This is a short answer question, not just answering a numbered question.
These are some questions to help you out, but you do not need to answer them:
What was the typical educational path for Chinese-Americans at that time?
What happened in September of 1941?
What had been the plan for Henry's education before that time?
Why was his father so upset about the Japanese even before Pearl Harbor?
How close was the fighting to where Henry might have gone to school in China?

Answer 1

Henry's father chose Rainier for his son's education due to educational segregation, personal beliefs against the Japanese prior to Pearl Harbor, and safety concerns about sending Henry to school in China amid regional conflicts.

Step-by-step explanation:

Henry's father sent him to Rainier rather than a Chinese school due to a complex mix of personal beliefs and historical context that influenced his decision. At the time, Chinese-Americans often faced educational segregation and limited opportunities, with separate schools for different ethnic groups, resulting in unequal education quality.

Henry's father had strong sentiments against the Japanese, even before Pearl Harbor in 1941, exacerbated by historical tensions between China and Japan. The fighting near where Henry might have gone to school in China would have been dangerously close, leading his father to consider educational alternatives for his son's safety and future prospects. Thus, Rainier provided an institution that could offer Henry a higher quality education while keeping him safe from the conflicts abroad.