Colonialism
The theme of colonialism in most literature read by Westerners focuses on the European invasion of weaker nations. This novel offers what may be for a great many readers a more unique examination of this theme of the wealthier powers exploiting the poorer nations. The colonialist expansion takes the form of China invading Tibet and resettling it as a satellite country under its despotic communist dominion. At the time, very little of the rest of the world took much notice or interest in the colonialization of a small nation hidden somewhere in the Himalayas by a Chinese government feared more for its potential as a burgeoning nuclear superpower. Today, of course, "Free Tibet" signs are plentiful. This is the story of what happened before the world woke up to the common sight of urges to give Tibet back to Tibetans
Displacement
One of the most egregious consequences of colonialist expansion is the displacement of native people from their homeland. The theme of the displacement resulting from the invasion of one country by another is examined in the story of two sisters who eventually wind up separated and go on to live substantially different lives. Lhamo and her sister, Tenkyi, manage to survive the first step in displacement: becoming a refugee. After making it through the next stage—life inside a refugee camp—they experience the ultimate consequence of displacement. Sent into exile from their homeland, Tenkyi winds up living halfway across the globe in Toronto with her niece Dolma. The story paints a haunting portrait of the fracturing of familial ties which is one of the most brutal consequences of colonialism.
Immigrant Alienation
A conversation about a classic and highly esteemed British film taking place at a convent high in the Himalayas becomes the unexpected centerpiece of the book's thematic exploration of immigrant alienation. As a Western anthropologist describes the film Black Narcissus about Western racism toward the Asian continent, he notes that in the picture "the Anglican nuns don’t view their new home as a utopian escape. They’re alienated in the foreign land, and that feels truer." This observation is a reverse reflection of the experience of the Tibetan family forced into exile. The Western perspective for many may be that being forced into exile as a result of Chinese incursion into Tibet is an opportunity to live in a modern utopia in comparison to the much harsher life in a mountain village. Just like the nuns trying to establish a mission to convert Buddhists to Christianity in the movie, those forced into exile inevitably find themselves strangers in a strange land. All the comforts of industrialization cannot alter the sense of being alienated from their homeland.
