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
Wei finds a seat in a half-full car. Across the aisle from him, a thin man sits and chain-smokes. Wei relaxes and closes his eyes, giving into the exhaustion the previous weeks of tension and anxiety have caused him. But the thin man strikes up a conversation, introducing himself as Tian, and guessing correctly that Wei hasn’t been on a trip like this in a long time. Tian says he used to travel between Guangzhou and Luoyang frequently to see a girlfriend (later identified as Ai-li) whom he has since lost touch with. He hasn’t been back in many years. Wei replies that he’s going to see his son, who lives in Luoyang temporarily, without explaining the reason. Silently, he wonders why Tian is going to Luoyang if he lost touch with the girl. But the train brakes abruptly, interrupting his thoughts.
Like Wei, Tian has unfinished business in Luoyang even though readers (and Wei) must wait to learn what happened with Ai-li. The shared experience of loss creates a bond between the two men. In the last decade, during which he has rarely left the villa, Wei has relied on his family to tend to all his social and emotional needs. And because he has chosen not to reciprocate for so long, he now believes himself incapable of fully reciprocating their affection and care. But the ease with which he strikes up a friendship with Tian shows he’s still very capable of being a caring friend and family member.
Themes
