Cultural In-Betweener

Jean spends much of the book in anguish over her "in-betweener" status as an American living in China. She feels she is out of place in China, though she does enjoy several aspects of Chinese culture, and she particularly is fond of her Chinese nanny, Lin Nai-Nai. This is compounded by the fact that Jean attends a British-run school with mostly British students. In one early episode, Jean is forced to sing "God Save The King", a song which extols the virtues of the British monarch. As someone who was not a British citizen, Jean felt uncomfortable singing such a song and she refused to do so.

Jean's cultural turmoil was outwardly manifested in increasing xenophobia taking place in China during the tumultuous mid 1920s. Influenced by the Communists, more and more Chinese citizens became convinced that many of the country's ills were caused by foreign meddling...