What is a theme statement for this short story? (I.e. What does the story say about the theme? E.g. Theme = family. The Jade Peony tells us that some intergenerational bonds/relationships are stronger than those we are closer to in age.)

The overriding theme of the novel is the difficulties related to an immigrant culture assimilating into another. The grandmother represents the desire to hold onto the ancient traditions of China while the children who narrate the novel represent the willingness to embrace western cultures even at the expense of losing those traditions most cherished by their grandmother. The parents, of course, are the where the meeting of the past and the future coincide.