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
As he helps to carry Suyin inside, a line of poetry springs to Wei’s mind: “Even so, the world intrudes.” He can’t remember where it comes from. He asks a concerned Kai Ying how he can help, and she sends him to fetch a midwife. The mission makes Wei feel strong and important, but the line of poetry still haunts him. He plans to scour his poetry collection to find its poem as he can. By the time he returns with the midwife, the baby has been born.
Instinctively, Wei recognizes that Suyin’s arrival signals the end of the precarious balance the Lee family has maintained since Sheng’s arrest. But just like her painful and upsetting labor ends in the arrival of a new life, the coming upheaval will ultimately reignite hope among the family members. Going for the midwife reminds Wei of how good it feels to be engaged in purposeful action, an idea that will soon become even more important to Wei.
Themes
