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Act 2, Scene 5
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
Joe and Mel visit Feng Meihui and her daughter Jennifer at their fish stall in Chinatown. Joe hands Feng Meijui some money, and she tells them that she’s only talking to them to get more money to put toward Jennifer’s college tuition. Joe asks Feng Meijui about the advertisements she paid for in the Beijing newspaper. She explains that the first, a memorial for “the mothers of 64,” was in honor of Jennifer’s twin brother, who died from a bullet fired through their window while the protests were ongoing.
Feng Meihui is openly mercenary, but this fact only emphasizes that she puts her daughter’s college education first. Her story underlines the massive number of casualties at Tiananmen Square, as well as how close the stories of those losses hide in plain sight. Feng Meihui and her family weren’t even protesting, from the sound of it—it was a completely senseless tragedy.
Active
Themes
The second advertisement, the one that mentions Wang Pengfei, a man called Jimmy Wang paid Feng Meihui to call in. As Joe and Mel press her and offer her more money, Feng Meijui adds that she helped Jimmy Wang immigrate to America illegally, and that she last saw him working at a florist. When they show her a photo of the Tank Man, Feng Meijui denies ever bringing him to New York. Joe asks her to check with her boss, but Feng Meijui says that her immigration operation is a family business that she runs herself. Through it, she’s raised enough to send Jessica to college. Proudly, she tells them that Jessica will be the next Hillary Clinton, Feng Meijui’s favorite politician. Before Joe leaves, Feng Meijui gifts him a fresh fish.
Active
Themes
