1. The jade peony
One of the themes of the Jade Peony was the difficulty that the early Chinese immigrants had to face when they came to Canada in the late 1800s. Wong Suk is one of the early immigrants, believing there is a "gold mountain" that could make them rich. "There had also been rumours of gold in the rivers that poured down those mountain cliffs, gold that could make a man and his family wealthy overnight." (pg 17). When he first arrived, he found out the "gold mountain" was only a lie, instead waiting for him is dangerous railroad work, a low-paying job "with only a few dollars left to send back to China every month, and never enough dollars to buy passage home." (pg 17). He also had to face a racist Canadian government, who "passed the Chinese Exclusion Act and shut down all ordinary bachelor-man traffic between Canada and China, shut off any women from arriving, and divided families." (pg 17). In those early years Chinatown was populated with males, this reflected the process of men was brought over for labourers and the women were left behind in China. Wong Suk was unhappy with the government's treatment and he remarked, "One day they say Old Wong okay-okay. Next day, Wong stinky Chink." (pg 48). The racism caused the Chinese to resent Canadian culture. Therefore, the elders, Poh Poh and Wong Suk, never gotten use to the Canadian Society, and were unable to accept the Canadian culture. Therefore Chinatown was created, a society that runs like as if it is in China. The Chinese created their own small town over the sea and out in the middle of a strange country, to produce the next generation and to keep alive the Chinese culture and tradition. Even when they passed away, they wish their bones would be brought back to China. "Two thousand pounds of bones going home to China isn't that wonderful?" (pg 64). .
Both novels, The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy and Disappearing Moon Café by Sky Lee, explore the Chinese immigrant experience in Canada and its effect on individual identity throughout each generation. Taking a nostalgic look back at Vancouver during the early 1940's, life of a Chinese immigrant was characterized by many social, economic and personal hardships, which can be seen in the novel, The Jade Peony. ... In The Jade Peony, the ideology of assimilating was the primary cause for the struggle for identity among the characters. ... In The Jade Peony, "Old Golden Mountain-(Choy...
Therefore, in order to examine the heroines in The Edible Woman and The Jade Peony we need to know what heroine-like qualities to look for. ... The role of the "passive female" is one played by Marian, from Atwood's The Edible Woman, and by Lily, from Choy's The Jade Peony. ... The elderly, Chinese grandmother, Poh-Poh, from Choy's The Jade Peony fits this role. ... Meiying, from Choy's The Jade Peony takes on this role of the new woman. ... Meiying fulfills the role of the "new woman" in The Jade Peony and she also fulfills the role of the heroine. ...