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
Song considers Kai Ying the daughter she never had, and she wishes she could lighten the younger woman’s burden. She and Kai Ying reminisce about the afternoon they first met, at Herbalist Chu’s shop. It was, Song thinks, fate. Now, she makes a shocking confession: on that day, she had planned to ask for herbs to help her commit suicide. She couldn’t face life with Old Hing anymore. But then she met Kai Ying, and the care and concern the young woman showed as she treated Song’s abscessed tooth—the result of a beating from Old Hing—made her feel human again for the first time in years. Within six months, Old Hing had died, and Song had moved to the villa. When Kai Ying married Sheng, Song was there to teach her how to be in the Lee household. She never thought about suicide again.
Song recognizes the importance of relationships in a person’s life. In treating her like a worthy and dignified human being (in sharp contrast to Old Hing’s degrading abuse), Kai Ying saved Song’s life. She reminded Song that life could still hold sweetness and companionship and helped her find enough hope to look toward the future again. Song finds redemption for all the lost years and opportunities of her life in adopting the Lee family as her own, and in reciprocating the love and respect she received—and still receives—from Kai Ying.
Themes
