Previous
Part Three: Chapter One
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Bonesetter’s Daughter, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Secrecy and Misunderstanding
Memory, Culture, and the Past
Storytelling
Women’s Solidarity
Summary
Analysis
The Youngs are celebrating GaoLing’s 77th birthday (really her 82nd) at her and Edmund’s home in Saratoga. Everyone is gathered outside around the pool. When GaoLing gets up to prepare some dishes in the kitchen, Ruth follows her inside. GaoLing starts to teach Ruth how to make tea eggs. Ruth pauses before asking GaoLing if she and LuLing made the eggs when they were living in orphanage. GaoLing seems surprised that LuLing has finally disclosed this part of her history to her daughter after so many years. Ruth tells GaoLing that she knows about Precious Auntie, too. GaoLing laughs as she chides her sister for her old-fashioned commitment to keeping old secrets. In the modern world, GaoLing reasons, nobody cares—though she admits, with a laugh, that she’s never told Edmund that she’s actually five years older than she publicly admits.
Even though Precious Auntie has been more successful in assimilating into Western culture and leaving the past behind, she still keeps some details—such as her real age—a secret. That only GaoLing and LuLing have known the whole truth of each other’s lives reflects the strength of their bond as sisters. After all these years, GaoLing has kept her promise to treat LuLing as a sister. GaoLing’s loyalty makes it all the more tragic that LuLing has chosen to see her life as full of sorrow, since she has always had people close to her who give her love and show her she is worthy of affection.
Themes
Finally, Ruth reaches the subject she’s been wanting to discuss with GaoLing: Mira Mar Manor. GaoLing instantly rejects the idea of assisted living, and Ruth feel ashamed all over again. GaoLing claims that she’ll take care of LuLing if Ruth won’t, but Ruth reminds GaoLing of how much difficulty she’d had the last time she watched LuLing.
GaoLing feels torn between her obligations to her sister and her limited ability to give her the care she needs. It’s possible, too, that GaoLing feels remorse for the times she abandoned LuLing—first when the Lius send LuLing away to the orphanage, and later when GaoLing leaves LuLing behind in Hong Kong to emigrate to the U.S.—and sees now as her chance to make things right with LuLing.
Themes
Dejected, Ruth changes the subject to ask GaoLing if she knows what became of the Changs. GaoLing scowls at the thought of her former in-laws and recalls that Fu Nan had likely died around 1960, and Chang had been publicly executed by the Communists nearly a decade before. Sister Yu ultimately became a high-ranking leader in the Communist Party, and Teacher Pan received an award in honor of his son, Pan Kai Jing, who died to protect the Communist Party. GaoLing tells Ruth that LuLing named her after Ruth Grutoff and Sister Yu, which Ruth had never known before. Ruth is touched by how much thought went into a name she’d spent so many years hating.
This section mainly fulfills a practical function of giving closure to numerous characters’ storylines. Beyond this, the revelation that LuLing named Ruth after two women who played a significant role in LuLing’s life further establishes Ruth’s place in her family’s history. Ruth spent much of her life in the same place as LuLing, not knowing the people she came from and lacking an appreciation for her ancestors’ traditions. Knowing the women whose names she bares allows Ruth to see herself as an extension of these women: as having inherited their resilience, strength, and empowerment.
Themes
During their conversation, GaoLing mentions LuLing’s Charles Schwab account in passing, which catches Ruth off guard. Ruth inquires further, and GaoLing explains that she and Edmund had placed LuLing’s rightful half of Edmund and Edwin’s inheritance in an account for her years ago. However, LuLing had always pretended that the money didn’t exist. GaoLing confirms that some of the stock accounts align with the stocks Ruth, as “Precious Auntie,” had suggested that LuLing invest in via the tea tray board. During all those writing-in-the-sand sessions, Ruth had never once considered that LuLing was asking for advice about actual stocks.
Ruth previously thought that she was the only one being deceptive while she and LuLing carried out the writing-in-the-sand sessions. GaoLing’s admission about the Charles Schwab account shows Ruth that LuLing was keeping secrets of her own and acting on the phony investment advice “Precious Auntie” had given her.
Themes
Get the entire The Bonesetter’s Daughter LitChart as a printable PDF.
Ruth asks GaoLing how the stocks performed, and GaoLing declares LuLing to be an investing genius. Suddenly, Ruth feels hurt that LuLing had forbidden herself to enjoy her money out of some obligation to Precious Auntie. Finally, Ruth asks GaoLing for Precious Auntie’s real name. “Bao Mu,” is all GaoLing can offer, which just means “nursemaid.” Ruth presses her aunt for Precious Auntie’s real name, but she can’t remember it, either. Ruth feels dejected, realizing she might never know her grandmother’s true identity.
This is another development that shows how LuLing’s misery was less the consequence of Precious Auntie’s curse as it was a self-imposed commitment to suffering. LuLing could have remedied her financial struggles had she allowed herself to see that she was deserving of comfort. Knowing LuLing’s full story allows Ruth to feel sympathy for her mother’s self-imposed frugality rather than bitterness at the way LuLing’s choice deprived them of certain comforts when Ruth was growing up.
Themes
Dory interrupts Ruth and GaoLing’s conversation when she rushes inside to inform them that LuLing fell in the pool and almost drowned. Ruth runs outside, horrified. Art carries LuLing out of the pool. LuLing claims to have spotted Precious Auntie at the bottom of the pool.
Even as her memory falters, LuLing holds tightly to the shame she feels about her betrayal of Precious Auntie. It’s so embedded in her mind that it persists even as many other details of her life become faded and unreachable.
Themes
Ruth leaves LuLing at GaoLing’s while she returns to her mother’s apartment to pack the things she’ll need for her new life at Mira Mar Manor. She wonders what to do about LuLing’s scrolls, ink, and brushes.
Ruth wants LuLing to have access the tools that connect her to her past and familial lineage. At the same time, she wants her to help her mother move forward and forget the past in the short time she has left.
Themes
That evening, Ruth meets Art for dinner. They sit down at a booth, and Ruth is surprised when a waiter arrives carrying a bottle of champagne. Art reminds her that it’s their anniversary. Ruth laughs, realizing she’d completely forgotten. Later that night, they return to their apartment. Before making love, Art expresses his desire for Ruth to share with him the parts of herself she has hidden all these years. Ruth laughs nervously, insisting that she never incidentally keeps anything from him. Art asks her why she always tries to push him away. Ruth thinks a moment and realizes she’s afraid to feel pain and wants to feel safe.
This moment is significant for Ruth, who hasn’t explicitly acknowledged how emotionally withdrawn she is and how this negatively impacts her ability to develop meaningful and fulfilling relationships with others. Ruth seems to recognize how she has inherited her mother’s resistance to emotional vulnerability for fear of getting hurt. Growing up being disappointed by a mother who loved her but was incapable of showing that love taught Ruth to keep her own love bottled up inside, as well.
Themes
