One significant cause in Farewell to Manzanar is the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. A specific effect of Pearl Harbor is the internment of all Japanese people by the US government. After Papa is taken by government officials, the family is forced to relocate to the internment camp of Manzanar in April of 1942.
When Papa is arrested and deemed to be a spy, it triggers his own decline. It emotionally breaks him. The effect of his arrest is that he feels as if he has no home. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, Papa burned the Japanese flag he had brought with him and pledged allegiance to America. A result of his arrest is that Papa feels that America turned its back on him. The effects of this betrayal are that his alcoholism increases and Jeanne notices how he is never again the same in his interactions with the family.
An effect of internment at Manzanar is the loss of Jeanne's innocence. Jeanne learns the difficult and uncomfortable reality of prejudice. She comes to recognize that she will always be seen as "the other" in American society because of her ethnicity:
I smiled and sat down, suddenly aware of what being of Japanese ancestry was going to be like. I wouldn’t be faced with physical attack, or with overt shows of hatred. Rather, I would be seen as someone foreign, or as someone other than American, or perhaps not be seen at all.
An effect of Jeanne's imprisonment is a change in perception about the country she once fully embraced as her home. She understands that the stain of internment means that her Japanese ancestry will cause her to be seen as different. When she says that she will be seen as "other than American" or "not be seen at all," the effect of internment on her perception is evident. It has forever changed her. While she will not swallow Papa's bitterness, she has lost her innocence about the promises and possibilities of America.
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