Student Question
In Farewell to Manzanar, who does Jeanne think the internees resemble in the surplus clothing?
Quick answer:
Jeanne thinks the internees resemble Charlie Chaplin in the surplus clothing. This comparison arises because Chaplin, a comic actor known for physical comedy, often portrayed a tramp character dressed in ill-fitting clothes. The internment camp's surplus clothing from World War I similarly does not fit the internees properly, evoking the image of Chaplin until they can have the clothes altered.
In order to find the answer to this, you have to go a bit beyond the place where the internees are given the surplus clothing from World War I. If you continue reading to the next paragraph, you will see that the answer is that Jeanne thinks that the internees look like Charlie Chaplin.
Charlie Chaplin was a comic actor who specialized in physical comedy. One of Chaplin's stock characters was a tramp who dressed in clothes that did not fit him. It is because of this that Jeanne thinks that the internees look like Chaplin until they are able to get their clothes altered.
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