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
It rains all through the night of the Moon Festival and into the next morning, the storm’s ferocity increasing until the wind howls through the courtyard. Kai Ying sleeps poorly. She’s troubled by Tao’s disappointment at not seeing the moon the previous night, his frustration at not being able to walk, and his impatience with his healing body. She wonders what Sheng would say and suddenly, the realization that she doesn’t remember the sound of his voice—and the fear that she will never hear it again—overwhelms her.
The tempest outside reflects—and amplifies—the unrest within the walls of the villa. It suggests the unfriendliness and cruelty of the world and the many things that happen outside of human control. And in the wake of its fury, Kai Ying realizes how fragile her connection to Sheng has become.
Themes
Song enters the kitchen and asks if Kai Ying is all right. She encourages Kai Ying to cry and alleviate some of her pain and sadness. But Kai Ying claims that the steamy kitchen makes her eyes water. As Kai Ling wraps up the herbs for Song’s arthritis tea, they discuss Tao’s recovery and Sheng’s long silence. Kai Ling fears that something bad has happened, but Song points out that there are many possible explanations. Worrying only makes it harder. She should know; she had her own share of a wife’s burden. Kai Ying is one of only two people (the other being Liang) to whom Song ever confided details about her sorrowful past. Kai Ying tries to focus on her gratitude for marrying a good man like Sheng. She tries to cling to hope. But it keeps getting harder.
Song and Kai Ying model how the mutual love and support of family can create strength and resilience against life’s trials. Song’s troubled past gives her a different perspective on suffering, one which she tries to share with Kai Ying. She knows that bad things—the kind of things Kai Ying worries about, like Sheng’s possible death—can happen in life. But good things can happen too. Song’s troubled marriage gave way in time to her inclusion in the Lee family, for instance.
Themes
