In my personal experience, I’ve found art to be represented in forms such as paintings and sculptures. Something with visual representations of the author’s thoughts is art. I’ve found art to be anything that sends out the author’s message to its audience. This general definition means that anything that has a meaning behind it can be art. A painting uses visual imagery to tell a story of its contents. However, this can also be extended to literature. Similarly, many novels use words to convey a theme or main idea that an author is trying to put forth. Although readers cannot actually “see” the contents of the book, they can still imagine what the author is presenting in their writing. As long as an artist has something to say, they can express these thoughts using any methods, including writing.

In the case of Farewell to Manzanar, Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston uses her personal experiences to explain the lives of people who were sent to internment camps during the mid-1900s. Despite being an American family, her family still suffers the consequences from the passing of Executive Order 9066 and is ostracized by society. Though she is simply explaining the events that transpired, I would still consider the book a work of art. By showing the readers the egregious conditions of the internment camps, Houston clearly shows her thoughts on the mistreatment of everyone in the camps. With an American identity, it was hard for many Japanese Americans to cope with the harsh conditions that they all faced. The readers understand that the camps were terrible and that Houston and her family, as well as others, were treated like aliens to the U.S. Farewell to Manzanar is art because Houston is able to depict the conditions of the camps and her underlying aggression against everything that was done to Japanese Americans.