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
Kai Ying and Auntie Song rush to the train station by pedicab, but Wei’s train has left by the time they arrive. Observing that he must travel his own path, Song brings Kai Ying back home. Kai Ying’s emotions swing wildly between fear and anger; she worries about Wei’s ability to fend for himself in the unpredictable, unsheltered world beyond the villa. She can’t imagine losing him, too.
Auntie Song, it seems, has long known the wisdom that Wei has only recently discovered: growth requires movement. Kai Ying knows this, too, though her mixed emotions now prevent her from acknowledging this. Importantly, her anger at Wei arises because she cares about her family members. She doesn’t want her family to be separated any more than it already has been.
Themes
At dinner, when Kai Ying tells Tao that Wei has gone to visit Sheng, he becomes upset. He wants to see his father, too. But he has school, and the trip of 1,000 miles will take at least two days. Much to Kai Ying’s relief, Suyin interrupts her questions and distracts Tao with another conversation. Kai Ying likes Suyin, who has been a big help around the house and who shows interest in the herbal work. But she knows nothing about Suyin’s family or her past, and she suspects that Suyin has been stealing food. Still, she finds the thought of anyone else leaving the house suddenly unbearable.
Just when Kai Ying thinks she cannot take any more, Suyin pipes up and takes on some of the burden of helping little Tao manage his emotions. She steps naturally into the role of a big sister—perhaps because she’s had practice with her own brothers. But the ease and naturalness with which she steps into the conversation at dinner, or the herbal work with Kai Ying, also shows her forming affectionate ties of her own with the Lee family. Now that she’s recovering, she’s giving as much into relationships as she gets out of them. However, readers know she is stealing food, and Kai Ying’s concern about this suggests there may be problems ahead.
Themes
