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
Suyin never thought her path would cross Kai Ying’s again. It feels like an omen, especially since in that very moment she feels her baby kick for the first time in days. Lately, her pregnancy has become almost unbearable, and she no longer has the stamina to beg in the park. Instead, she wanders the market, hoping that shoppers or vendors will take pity on her and give her a little food. The thought of how little the world has to offer her or her baby sometimes makes her panicky. She feels desperately homesick. But seeing Kai Ying gives her hope. Quietly, at a distance, she follows Kai Ying home from the market.
Suyin knows that she needs to find a new place of shelter and stability if she and her baby want to survive in a frequently harsh world. Kai Ying’s sudden reappearance thus seems to her like a promise from the universe that she can find the family she needs to keep her and her baby safe. And in following Kai Ying home, Suyin sets out on a journey of her own across the city—a journey that will change her life forever.
Themes
