“Yellow Card Man”
Tranh’s situation is the archetypal “Grace to grass” eventuality. Paolo Bacigalupi explains, “Images of Ma war in Tranh's head: the young clerk he once sent packing for being too clever with an abacus, the man whose son is fat, the man who got out early, the man who begged to be rehired at Three Prosperities, the man who now struts around Bangkok with Tranh's last precious possession on his wrist—the one item that even the snakeheads didn't steal. Tranh thinks that truly fate is cruel,placing him in such proximity to one he once considered so far beneath him.” Tranh shifts from grace (which was apparent in Malaya) to grass (when he turns into a refugee in Thai). Comparatively, Ma lives in grace considering that he has connections with Dung Lord whom he works for. Ma’s advantageous position is attributed to the loss of his job at Three Prosperities which prompted him to move to Bangkok. In Bangkok, Tranh lives on scavenging because all his wealth was wrecked during the war. At some point he eats Ma’s left overs for him to stay alive. Besides, Tranh’s desperateness makes him to supplicate Ma for a job. Evidently, Ma’s assertion, “Anyone can fall,” is valid in view of the reality that both him (Ma) and Tranh plummet from their glorious spots at different times.
The ‘Yellow Card Man’ is distressed. His trauma prompts him to associate durians at the marketplace with heads and blood of his loved ones who lost life in the war. Paolo Bacigalupi writes, “But as he takes her gift he again notices the great durian pile behind her. All neatly stacked with their blotches and their bloody wheals of blister rust. Just like stacked Chinese heads in Malacca: his wife and daughters staring out at him, accusatory. He drops the durian and kicks it away, frantically scraping his hands on his jacket, trying to get the blood off his palms.” Tranh’s reaction depicts a man that is devastated by the deaths of his family. His unconscious has memories of all the people that he thinks he sees in the pile. Even though Tranh would want to leave his past behind, it is dreadful when unconnected items such as durians initiate imageries of dead people.
Refugees in the kingdom are subject to prejudice. Even though Ma holds that he is above the status of ‘a yellow card man’, the white shirts distinguish him based on accent which indicates that he is a refugee. Tranh observes, “The three white shirts gather close. "Late for a yellow card. You should be home by now. Bad luck to be out after yellowcard curfew. Especially with all that yellow gold on your wrist." Clearly, the curfew is intended for the refugees and not the kingdom’s natives. The encounter with the police officers brings Ma Ping face to face with his fate because they rob him off his expensive watch, hurt him physically and leave him to die in the hands of Tranh. The resolution of “Yellow Card Man” brings forth Tranh’s Death instinct. Paolo Bacigalupi writes “With one last glance around the darkened street, hedrives the broken bottle into Ma's throat. Ma jerks and blood spills out around Tranh's hand. Tranh scuttles back, keeping this new welling of blood off his Hwang Brothers fabrics.” Tranh’s Death Instinct stimulates him to murder Ma so that he can take his job at “The Farang Industries.” The murder is a preservation instinct which assurances Tranh that he will get Ma’s job that is mandatory for him to live on. Ma and Tranh’s situations are analogous to a cyclic karma that compels each one of them to be at the mercy of the other at some point. In the end, Karma gives Tranh a competitive edge over Ma.
“The Fluted Girl”
Belari considers the fluted girls commodities that can be traded in the stock market. When Vernon inquires whether she will float them, she says, “Of course. I'll retain a controlling interest, but the rest, I will sell." Clearly, Belari’s objective is to get wealthy using the bodies of Nia and Lidia which she has transformed profoundly. She is not apprehensive that surgeries and cosmetic treatments are damaging to their health. She harms them using red herring of transforming them stars.
Belari’s egocentricity and wickedness have no limits for the reason that she conditions two biological sisters to perform pornography to tickle her guests. Paolo Bacigalupi writes, “We perform pornography, Lidia thought. Pornography for the profit of Belari. She caught a glimpse of her patron's gleaming pleasure, Vernon Weir dumbstruck beside her. Yes, she thought, look at us, Master Weir, look and see what pornography we perform, and then it was her turn to play upon her sister, and her tongue and hands stroked Nia's keys.” For Belari, the pornographic acts, amplify the worth of her stocks. Basically,Belari is quickening the two sisters’ fall from innocence and encumbering their childhood. Lidia is aware of the exploitation even though Belari considers her to be an object that can be altered at her will. Lidia’s sentience of their state of affairs is credited to the discussions she had with Stephen about Belari’s malevolence.
Also, Belari participates in cannibalistic rituals. Paolo Bacigalupi writes, “ She (Lidia) looked at the array of finely sliced meats and then at Vernon as he (Vernon) forked a bite into his mouth. Her stomach turned. Only her training let her remain still. Vernon and Belari's conversation continued, but all Lidia could think was that she had consumed her friend, the one who had been kind to her.” Lidia is conscious that Stephen’s body was sliced into pieces and are prepared for the guests. The guests are oblivious of want they are consuming, but Lidia is sentient of her betrayal of someone who had showed her benevolence. Accordingly, what Lidia sees in the pieces of meat is her comrade. Her awareness propels the story towards its climax.
