46 pages • 1 hour read
Lisa SeeShanghai Girls
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2009A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Cover Girls
The images of May and Pearl that grace the covers of calendars are a recurring motif that symbolizes their shared identity and the Bond of Sisterhood. As previously mentioned, a sisterly connection that endures for a lifetime is a rarity in traditional Chinese culture. Even rarer is the notion of siblings who are both so attractive that they can pose professionally for an artist. Although Mrs. Chin is initially scandalized by her daughters’ side job, she eventually comes to appreciate the notoriety they receive as “the beautiful girls” (265). The sister’s bond is intensified not only in their role as artist models but in their role in artist Z.G.’s life. Pearl develops a crush on the painter while May has an affair with him. The bond is sealed when May’s affair results in the birth of Joy, whom Pearl agrees to parent and raise as her own.
The cover girl motif reappears toward the novel’s end when Z.G. uses his favorite models to inspire magazine covers depicting the new Communist China. Old Man Louie enjoys seeing his daughters-in-law during their prime. They awaken a sense of nostalgia in the old man for his homeland: “‘You’re still beautiful girls.’ Father sounds almost triumphant” (257). The reappearance of the cover girls also sparks the book’s final crisis. Joy notices the love in Z.G.’s idealized depiction of May. A short while later, May admits her affair with the artist, a confession Joy overhears. This precipitates her flight to China to find her father. Rescuing their shared daughter unites the sisters once again in a common cause.
Chinese Zodiac
Various characters mention the Chinese zodiac at multiple points in the story. The signs symbolize the basic personality of someone born in a particular year. However, the book’s symbolism, the zodiac underscores the theme of being Trapped by Circumstance. The Chinese zodiac assumes that an individual will follow the pattern of the animal featured during their birth year. May is a Sheep, which means that she will be a follower all her life: “Good fortune smiles on the Sheep because of its peaceful nature and kind heart, but—and it’s a big but, according to Mama—the Sheep sometimes thinks only of itself and its own comforts” (9). May’s selfishness certainly would seem to confirm this belief.
Pearl’s husband Sam was born in the year of the Ox and is supposed to be steady and patient: “The Ox is capable of great sacrifices for his family’s welfare” (168). Again, the prediction seems to hold true. Sam toils for decades to provide a good life for Pearl and Joy. Ultimately, he sacrifices his life to keep his family from being deported.
Joy is a Tiger. She is impulsive, wild, and fierce. When Joy talks about her plan to join the revolution in China, Pearl says, “She’s followed her Tiger nature, acting out of anger, confusion, and misplaced enthusiasm. She’s acted out of last night’s passions and confusions” (306). In the end, Joy makes good on her promise and fulfills the prediction.
Determinism seems to win since each individual is trapped by the characteristics of their birth sign. Strangely enough, Pearl isn’t actualizing hers. She is a Dragon. Her mother says, “You’re a Dragon, and of all the signs only a Dragon can tame the fates. Only a Dragon can wear the horns of destiny, duty, and power” (76). Of all the novel’s characters, Pearl epitomizes the theme of being Trapped by Circumstance. She doesn’t rise to her Dragon nature. Perhaps she will live up to her potential in the novel’s sequel.
China City in Los Angeles
Much of the novel takes place against the backdrop of the Chinese district in Los Angeles. While the area might be considered a symbol of Chinese culture in America, it represents a hodgepodge of Asian and American assumptions about what tourists want to see. As such, it speaks to the theme of a Cultural Identity Crisis. The Chinese section of the city consists of three parts: Old Chinatown, where Pearl’s family lives; China City, which is a commercial district designed to lure tourists; and New Chinatown, which competes for business with the established shops in China City.
Nothing is particularly authentic in this part of town. Even the cramped apartments where Chinese families live bear little resemblance to their homeland. Western investors, intent on drawing more white Americans to China City, design a romanticized notion of the mysterious “Orient.” Pearl quickly notes how little she believes in the staged version of her homeland: “China City isn’t like Shanghai. It isn’t like the Old Chinese City either. It isn’t even like a Chinese village. It looks a lot like the China May and I used to see in movies brought to Shanghai from Hollywood” (146). Just as China City is an ersatz approximation of China, Pearl’s experience of America is cobbled together from working on movie sets and watching TV Westerns. Her understanding of her adopted country is just as limited as any white American trying to grasp Chinese culture by visiting China City for the first time.
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