Genre
Collection of short stories
Setting and Context
Written in the late 19th century and early 20th century.
Narrator and Point of View
Third-person narrative
Tone and Mood
Lighthearted, Instructive and upbeat
Protagonist and Antagonist
The central character is Mrs. Jade Spring Fragrance.
Major Conflict
There is a conflict between the Eurasians and the recent immigrants into North America. There is anxiety behind incorporation into American culture.
Climax
The climax comes when Mrs. Jade Spring becomes full Americanized.
Foreshadowing
The forbidden intermarriages foreshadow the white society's mistreatment of the biracial children between the whites and Chinese.
Understatement
Racism is understated in the text. Despite the Chinese people getting fully assimilated into the American culture, the Chinese men are restricted from dating and marrying white women.
Allusions
The book alludes to bigotry, adaptation and estrangement of the Chinese Americans in the U.S.
Imagery
Smell imagery is depicted by the author when Mrs. Fragrance cheers Laura by telling her that the air is filled up with wallflower’s perfume.
Paradox
The main paradox is that the whites encourage the Chinese to people to be Americanized, but they strongly discourage intermarriages.
Parallelism
N/A
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
Racism is incarnated as futile.
