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
Tao doesn’t remember much after his fall. He spends his time in the hospital in a groggy, sedated haze. But he always feels better when he wakes up to find Kai Ying and Wei in the room with him. Occasionally, he hears them talking with the doctor. He wonders if anyone has told Sheng about the fall, and if his injuries will bring his father home.
Tao’s hope that news of his injury will bring his father home shows that, in the absence of the full truth, he has formed confused ideas about Sheng’s absence. Although he saw the arrest, he seems to think that Sheng has the freedom to decide when to come back. Wei’s and Kai Ying’s attempts to shield Tao, to protect him from pain, end up causing him more confusion and anguish.
Themes
