Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in A Hundred Flowers, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Redemption
Journeys and Growth
Suffering, Strength, and Resilience
Home and Family
The Promises and Failures of Communism
Summary
Analysis
At dinner, Tao refuses to speak to Wei, ignoring his grandfather until his mother chastises him. After dinner, Kai Ying lectures Tao about the respect he owes adults. He wants to know how she can still talk to his traitorous grandfather, but he knows better than to ask.
Tao cannot ignore Wei out of existence any more than Kai Ying can maintain the illusion that things haven’t changed. They both try to avoid facing the painful reality of their circumstances: Sheng is gone, and Wei is responsible for it. But only in facing these truths and learning to live with them will anyone find peace.
Themes
