Helen Mulberry Sang
Known primarily as simply Mulberry, she is the protagonist of the story. She is a Chinese woman whose story is presented against a backdrop of some of the greatest historical events taking place in Asia during the 20th century. Through her “notebooks” the reader follows her from age 16 to 41 on a journey in which the hell of the outside world is no match—though a contributor to—her own mental deterioration as she charts the onset of schizophrenia and dissociative identity disorder.
Peach
Mulberry’s story is told through her notebook entries. Peach’s story is pieced together through a combination of what she refers to as Mulberry’s “diary” and four separate letters sent to an Immigration Service agent who is not sure of her status. That status is corrupted, of course, by the fact that Peach is actually a manifestation of the schizoid personality disorder that is gradually taking over Mulberry and being replaced by the increasingly dominant Peach who exists in Mulberry’s mind as a completely separate individual whose influence gradually takes away her control over her identity.
PEACH-FLOWER WOMAN
Peach-Flower Woman is a life force whom Mulberry first mentions in her initial notebook. At that time, she is slightly older than the teenaged Helen who was a child-bride with a child herself. Her husband eventually abandons her amid rumors of living with another woman in Chungking. Nevertheless, she heads there in order to seek him out. Despite the similarity in names, she is not to be confused with Peach herself, who is, after all, merely an extension of Mulberry’s subconscious.
THE OLD MAN
A 60-something old man who also shows up in the earliest notebook is significant to the narrative primarily through thematic importance. Writing in 1945, Mulberry plainly points out that he is a symbol of Chinese traditions and that he has been on the run from the Japanese who took over his home in 1937.
THE REFUGEE STUDENT
Counterposed against the Old Man in the first notebook is a younger man referred to as the Refugee Student. He represents the post-war generation; patriotic but rebelling against the outmoded traditions, he can also be seen as symbolic of the coming communist revolution that will forever turn its back on the China represented by the Old Man.
AUNT SHEN
In the second notebook entry which takes place in Peking during the communist revolution in 1948, Mulberry introduces another 60-something character, her infirm and bedridden Aunt Shen. In the wake of her “failure” to produce the requisite Chinese son who would become heir, she arranges for her husband to father a child with a maid promoted to the position of concubine. Eventually, she murders the concubine after the young woman becomes pregnant for a second time. Aunt Shen is significant to the novel’s themes of feminism.
CHIA-KANG
The son which the initial union produced is named Chia-King. Despite her lame physical condition and the circumstances surrounding his birth, Aunt Shen is a domineering “mother” who essentially controls her son whom she raises to enter China’s traditional bourgeoisie. His desire to marry Mulberry is also important to the theme of feminism as it is clear that this desire is borne mainly from a desire to establish masculine domination which he can never hope to wield over his possessive mother.
SANG-WA
Nearly a decade has passed since the last notebook excerpt and Mulberry is now 28, married to Chia-King and a mother. The child is her daughter, Sang-Wa who was born in Taiwan after the family escaped the communists by fleeing the mainland.
TAN-HUNG
More than a decade passes between the third and final notebook excerpt and during this time not only has Mulberry begun to enter middle age, but she now recognizes Peach as a full-fledged “character” in her story. Each of the notebooks begins with a listing of the important people who will make appearances in that section. In addition to Peach, this last entry also introduces Tan-Hung. She is a little older than Mulberry, married but with no children. This latter fact will become central to the developing conflict between Mulberry and Peach.
