Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Do Not Say We Have Nothing, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Individual Identity Under Communism
Class and Communism
Freedom of Expression vs. Propaganda
Political Oppression, Isolation, and Divided Communities
Storytelling, Family Connection, and History
Summary
Analysis
Back in Canada, Ai-ming suddenly asks Li-ling whether she’s disappeared. “I’m sure I’ve disappeared,” she tells her younger friend. “Have I? Can you really see me?” she asks. At first, Li-ling is frightened by Ai-ming’s question, but soon she sees that for Ai-ming, disappearance is desirable; Li-ling observes that the older girl needs “to live unobserved.” Li-ling’s mother now works two jobs to cover expenses for Ai-ming. Li-ling, in turn, has decided to use her lucky New Year’s money to treat Ai-ming to dinner at Li-ling’s father’s favorite restaurant. There, Ai-ming tells Li-ling that “solitude can reshape your life,” and she confesses that she feels she needs to leave Li-ling and her mother’s home to try to get amnesty in the United States.
Here, Ai-ming’s desire to be invisible may stem from the fact that she grew up in Communist China, where every word or action could be used against her to say that she was a political enemy. In other words, Ai-ming’s desire not to be seen is at its core a desire to be able to fully express herself individually without the judgement or scrutiny of others. At the same time, the fact that she will be unable to get amnesty in Canada means that she needs to go to the United States, which will separate her from Li-ling and her mother, leading to all three women’s isolation from family and cultural connection.
Themes
Li-ling is curious about what happened in Tiananmen Square that caused Ai-ming to need to leave China. That day at the restaurant, Li-ling finds the courage to ask Ai-ming to tell her the story of the riots. Ai-ming tells Li-ling about how she and her best friend, Yiwen, slept beside each other in the square. For Ai-ming, during the time of the demonstrations, China felt like home for the first time. She felt understood, she tells Li-ling. But after the massacre, and after Sparrow was murdered, Ai-ming understood that she could never go back to China.
Ai-ming’s mention that she first felt at home in China during the Tiananmen Square riots implies that she needs the ability to sincerely express her opinion—as she and Yiwen did at Tiananmen Square—in order to feel that she truly belongs to a place. Because the government chose to politically oppress the students and deny them freedom of speech, Ai-ming has had to leave the country—not only is it unsafe, but it is implied that she can’t live in such a repressive society.
Themes
On their way home, Ai-ming tells Li-ling that she will always consider her family—Li-ling will always be her little sister. Once home, Ai-ming makes tea and the two girls lie in the dark together. Ai-ming continues reading to Li-ling from The Book of Records, which, this time, is not “a recapitulation of those thirty-one notebooks, but a life much closer to [Li-ling’s] own. A story that contain[s] [her] history and [will] contain [her] future.”
In this moment, the connection between The Book of Records and Li-ling’s family history becomes clear. It isn’t just an entertaining novel; it’s a book in which dedicated family members have chosen to preserve the family’s story for generations to come.
Themes
At Swirl and Wen the Dreamer’s wedding in Bingpai, singers and booksellers come from Shanghai to gift the newlywed couple with musical instruments and books copied by hand. Swirl is to move to Bingpai and live in Wen the Dreamer’s family home. During this time, Swirl gives birth to a daughter, Zhuli, who sings all the time. Meanwhile, Big Mother Knife’s home is also full of music: her oldest child, Sparrow, is constantly listening to and transcribing Bach’s Goldberg Variations.
Here, the proliferation of musical instruments and books as gifts at Wen and Swirl’s wedding highlights how important the arts and creative expression are to them as a couple. Indeed, they pass their love of music on to their daughter, making music something that ties the family together.
Themes
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Ba Lute, meanwhile, seems to be doing more political work than teaching at the Conservatory. He is organizing a land reform campaign that requires him to be out of Shanghai often—he even goes on a six-month trip to the countryside. When he returns, Big Mother Knife comments wryly that she thought the war ended in 1949. He responds that the Chairman has launched a new campaign and he asks her if that doesn’t make her feel excited. Big Mother Knife responds, “Oh, good. A new campaign. As Chairman Mao says, ‘After all the enemies with guns have been wiped out, there will still be the enemies without guns.’”
Big Mother Knife’s statement at the end of the passage is ominous. Mao’s insistence upon wiping out enemies without guns implies that he intends to persecute people who are not violently fighting back, which is inarguably a form of political oppression. Thien juxtaposes Ba Lute’s increasing involvement in the Communist Party with his decreasing involvement in teaching at the Conservatory. Again, in this moment, music and political involvement are directly at odds with each other.
Themes
Big Mother Knife decides that she’s going to go visit Swirl in the countryside. Ba Lute tries to persuade her against it, telling her that there’s a war going on in rural China and the trip isn’t safe at this time. Big Mother Knife insists despite her husband’s protests, and ultimately she embarks on the 19-hour journey to Bingpai to visit her sister.
Here, Big Mother Knife chooses to risk her safety in order to visit her sister. In spite of the political violence that would keep her apart, she is choosing to see her own sister and maintain a strong relationship with her in spite of the violence she may experience along the way.
Themes
When Big Mother Knife arrives in Bingpai, she is surprised at what she sees. The village, once prosperous, is now “bedraggled and ugly.” She trudges up the hill to Wen the Dreamer’s family home, and there she is so shocked that she’s sure her driver has the wrong address: the courtyard is missing its gate and the place is covered in trash. Big Mother Knife thinks to herself that the house looks like it’s going to be torn down. As she enters, she sees dozens of village people scurrying about the property and removing the house’s floors. When Big Mother Knife asks one of the women where the family is, the woman responds that they were “thrown out. Executed like criminals.”
Here, Big Mother Knife discovers that Wen the Dreamer’s village has rampaged his family home because they were wealthy. This moment introduces readers to the way that the Communist government treats class—working people have the right to reclaim the property of the rich and even punish them for their crimes of class oppression with death. The fact that Wen’s family have been executed suggests that the class reform under communism isn’t just about achieving equality, but also about getting revenge.
Themes
Distraught, Big Mother Knife goes outside and remembers Ba Lute’s warning that there is a war going on in the countryside. Meanwhile, down on the main road in the village, the people are gathering in a demonstration. The crowd is screaming, and Big Mother Knife makes out words like “stand up,” “have courage,” and “devil.” She sees that Wen the Dreamer is at the head of the procession, followed by Swirl, who has her arms tied with ropes behind her back. Big Mother Knife follows the procession until it ends and the villagers have drifted off, leaving Wen and Swirl alone. Finally, Big Mother Knife approaches Swirl, and asks if that’s really her.
In this moment, Big Mother Knife sees a violent demonstration aimed at torturing and humiliating Wen and Swirl for being class oppressors. The violence that the villagers have chosen to subject them to highlights their vengefulness. The fact that they call Wen and Swirl devils also implies that there is an element of extremism to their communist values. The fact that Big Mother Knife has to ask her sister if that’s really her suggests that the violence Swirl has experienced has changed her greatly.
Themes
At first, Swirl is unwilling to explain what has happened. She calls the demonstrations “struggle sessions” and she says they’re harmless—most of the time. She, Wen the Dreamer, and their daughter Zhuli are staying in a hut on the outskirts of town. Even so far from the village, everyone in the house “[speaks] in whispers, as if afraid to wake the gods of destiny, or even Chairman Mao himself.”
Swirl’s refusal to complain about the “struggle sessions” suggests that she is afraid of being heard criticizing the Communist Party. She chooses to censor herself for fear of subjecting herself and her family to further punishment for voicing disagreement with the Communist Party’s beliefs.
Themes
One night, as the sisters are lying in bed with Zhuli, Swirl asks Big Mother Knife to tell her a story to distract her from the pain of having been evicted and tormented by the villagers. Big Mother Knife shares with her younger sister that she visited an old teahouse where they used to perform. Previously known as the Purple Mountain Teahouse, after the revolution it was renamed the Red Mountain People’s Refreshment House. What’s more, the songs have changed: popular favorites include “The East is Red” and “Song of the Guerrillas.”
Again, Thien demonstrates the extreme extent to which Mao’s government seeks to censor its citizens freedom of expression and to use every opportunity possible to spread communist propaganda. While previously the teahouses were apolitical spaces where people went to have fun, now they have been turned into vehicles for the Party to spread its message and immerse the people of China in propaganda.
Themes
Swirl then asks her sister if she remembers The Book of Records. Big Mother Knife replies that she hopes Swirl has burned the book, but Swirl reveals that she hasn’t—in fact, the book, along with many others, is hidden underground at Wen the Dreamer’s family property. Swirl intends to go back to the house to get The Book of Records, but Big Mother Knife tries to dissuade her.
Swirl’s commitment to The Book of Records demonstrates a kind of courage. Although she knows she could get in trouble for having the book, she values literature and art to such an extent that she is willing to risk severe punishment for having the novel in her possession.
Themes
Big Mother Knife gently asks why there is so much upheaval and cruelty going on in the village. Swirl responds that she understands “why nothing can stay the same,” as “once everything is broken, they can build society once more.” Swirl doesn’t seem too worried about the Communist agenda, except for one thing—Zhuli has been born “into the wrong class.” Because of this, Swirl worries that she may not be able to protect her daughter.
Swirl’s insistence on backing up the communist agenda again implies that the government’s oppression is so strong that even those persecuted by communism feel unable to speak out against it. Additionally, her statement that Zhuli has been born into the “wrong class” suggests that hierarchical structures in society remain powerful under communism. The people aren’t equal—the only difference is who’s on top and who’s on the bottom. In this case, the formerly rich are punished with low class status.
Themes
Only years later does Big Mother Knife finally piece together what happened to Swirl and Wen the Dreamer after they were kicked out of their home. Wen’s uncles were tending to their fields when a group from the Communist Party arrived at the gate. Da Ge, Wen’s oldest uncle, answered the door, inviting the strangers in for something to eat. They refused, saying the Ba Ge and his brothers needed to come to a village meeting. “Of course, as your family is so prominent in Bingpai, how could we start the meeting without you?” the party members asked.
In this moment, the Communist Party leaders who arrive at Da Ge’s house are subtly mocking him by speaking about his importance. He doesn’t know that the Party intends to punish him precisely for having this “prominence.” Their mockery of Da Ge’s high social status speaks to their desire to upend the hierarchical system that formerly granted the wealthy social and economic power over the poor.
Themes
Once Wen the Dreamer, Da Ge and his brothers arrived at the school, they saw Swirl and Zhuli kneeling with 20 other villagers on the stage. Villagers were kicking and slapping Da Ge’s wife, who cried for mercy. Once Wen the Dreamer was placed on the side alongside his family members, the villagers began their accusations. One man shouted that during a difficult financial time, he had sold his land to Da Ge “for nothing.” When Da Ge tried to defend himself, saying that it was a fair price, the crowd became furious. Another woman accused Da Ge’s brother of raping her when she was a child. Someone handed her a shovel and she beat him “even after it made no difference.”
In this moment, Wen the Dreamer’s family is being publicly tortured. The violence with which the villagers treat them suggests that they aren’t able to recognize the family’s humanity. The fact that Wen’s family formerly was wealthy is so infuriating to the villagers that they feel empowered to brutalize them. Indeed, the woman’s choice to continue beating Da Ge’s brother even when he was already dead shows how she was motivated by a desire for vengeance more than to live in an equal and just society.
Themes
The crowd became increasingly belligerent the more accusations were heaped upon Wen the Dreamer, Da Ge, and their family. Soon, the villagers in charge took out guns, and Swirl thought she was hallucinating. All of Wen’s uncles were shot and killed, but Wen himself was spared.
Again, Thien draws readers’ attention to the extreme political violence that Wen and his family are subjected to. The villagers do not present Wen’s family with an opportunity to reform themselves. To the villagers, the solution to class inequality lies in violence.
Themes
Big Mother Knife does not find out about any of this until years later. But the fourth night that she is in Bingpai, just after Zhuli, Wen the Dreamer, and Swirl have been forced to live in the hut, Big Mother Knife is unable to sleep. Thinking of a poem that she recited at her sister’s wedding, Big Mother Knife resolves to go to the family’s former property and try to get The Book of Records. Afraid of being caught, she “pause[s] to offer a poem to the God of Literature” before entering: “When the mind is exalted / the body is lightened / and feels as if it could float in the wind. / This city is famed as a center of letters; / and all you writers coming here / prove that the name of a great land / is made by better things than wealth,” she recites.
In this moment, the poem Big Mother Knife recites creates separation between art and wealth. While she fears that Swirl could be punished for having The Book of Records precisely because literature is considered to be bourgeois, in the poem, Big Mother Knife isolates artistic expression from wealth—she says that letters are worth more than wealth. By having Big Mother Knife recite this poem, Thien helps highlight the illogical nature of associating the arts with the upper classes.
Themes
Big Mother Knife finds The Book of Records inside the hiding place that Swirl described to her in the house. Upon leaving, she thinks to herself that all of Wen the Dreamer’s family’s possessions will, one day, turn to dust. “Expect,” she thinks, for The Book of Records, “which would go on to another hiding place, to live a further existence.”
Big Mother Knife’s thoughts in this moment speak to her belief in the resilience of storytelling and artistic expression. She has risked so much to get The Book of Records from the hiding place precisely because she agrees with her sister that storytelling and literature are valuable and need to be preserved for future generations.
Themes
The next morning, Big Mother Knife catches the bus back to Shanghai. By chance, she sits beside a young woman whose husband is Bingpai’s deputy village head. Big Mother Knife senses the opportunity to help her sister and she shares with the young woman that her husband, Ba Lute, is well-known within the Party. She tells the deputy head’s wife that Ba Lute is extremely fond of Wen the Dreamer. Over the course of the 14-hour bus ride, the two women continue chatting and they form a friendship.
Here, Thien again highlights the hypocrisy that underlies the communist understanding of class. What Big Mother Knife is doing in this moment is networking, using her high social status to connect with another socially powerful person who she thinks can help her sister. That she is able to network in this way underscores the fact that the new communist society is not equal in any way, and instead has a rigid social hierarchy,
Themes
When Big Mother Knife arrives at home, her family is in disarray. The radio is blaring. Ba Lute explains that “some of [their] interests—a few musical interests—do not need to be broadcast.” Indeed, when Big Mother Knife finds her son, Sparrow, he is listening to Bach’s Goldberg Variations softly, trying to transcribe it. He has been spending his time doing this for fun since Big Mother Knife left town.
In this moment, the radio appears as the performance of communist ideology. It is clear that Ba Lute thinks listening to Bach could be seen as counter-revolutionary, so he covers it up with the radio, which likely is blasting propaganda through the house. In this way, he uses propaganda to disguise the fact that his son is creatively expressing himself through music.
Themes
