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Act 2, Scene 1
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Chimerica, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Representation vs. Exploitation
Corruption and Censorship
East and West
Collective vs. Individual Identity
Summary
Analysis
At a strip club in the Garment District, Joe and Mel visit Mary Chang. After dancing to the song “China Girl,” she joins Joe and Mel backstage. When Joe asks her, Mary immediately supplies the name of the woman who called in the advertisements: Feng Meihui. The men thank Mary for her time and hand her a wad of cash. She offers to dance for them, but they awkwardly refuse. After entreating Joe and Mel to give Frank her resume, Mary leaves with another dancer who’s wearing a star-spangled bikini.
Mary’s dance to the song “China Girl” certainly suggests that she’s had to make her living after immigrating to the U.S. by selling her dances to people who fetishize her for her race. Together with the girl in the American flag bikini, the dancers represent the push-and-pull between individual and nation yet again. In an environment like this one, one person can become symbolic of their entire country.
Active
Themes
