Hawaii

Hawaii is the setting of the Hawaii Understanding, a consequential agreement that brings the United States closer to the Axis powers while presenting that alignment as a guarantee of peace. Signed in Honolulu by President Lindbergh and Japanese representatives, it exchanges American acceptance of Japanese expansion in Asia for Japan’s recognition of U.S. sovereignty and Pacific possessions. The islands thus figure not only as territory to be retained, but as the site of a bargain whose reach extends across the Pacific.

Diplomatic Setting

Ten days after Lindbergh returned from Iceland to Washington, he signed the Hawaii Understanding in Honolulu with Prince Fumimaro Konoye, premier of the Japanese imperial government, and Foreign Minister Matsuoka. The two men represented Emperor Hirohito. They had already signed a triple alliance with Germany and Italy in Berlin in September 1940, pledging mutual military support if any member were attacked by a country outside the European or Sino-Japanese wars. The Honolulu meeting therefore followed, rather than initiated, Japan’s formal alignment with Germany and Italy.

The Agreement’s Terms

The agreement extended American recognition to Japan’s sovereignty in East Asia and guaranteed that the United States would not oppose Japanese expansion on the Asian continent. That expansion expressly included the annexation of the Netherlands Indies and French Indochina. In return, Japan pledged to recognize U.S. sovereignty on its own continent, respect the political independence of the Philippines, scheduled to take effect in 1946, and accept Hawaii, Guam, and Midway as permanent U.S. possessions in the Pacific.

Hawaii in the Novel’s Political Geography

The terms make Hawaii part of a Pacific exchange: Japan accepts U.S. possessions, including the islands where the agreement is signed, while the United States agrees not to resist Japan’s territorial gains in Asia. The text describes the agreement as making the United States a party to the Axis alliance in all but name. In this sense, Hawaii is a fixed point in a deal that protects American holdings while conceding a widening sphere of Japanese power.

Neutrality and Its Consequences

The Hawaii Understanding follows Lindbergh’s public pledge that the United States would take no part in the war in Europe. Across the agreements, neutrality is represented not simply as staying out of war, but as a policy of bargaining with powers already aligned with one another. The apparent promise of peace—no more young Americans fighting and dying—coexists with recognition of expansion abroad. Hawaii’s role in the novel is therefore bound to the tension between keeping American territory secure and accepting political arrangements that bring the country closer to the Axis.