“Tsen Hing, the son of the Government schoolmaster, seems to be much in the company of your young wife. He is a good-looking youth, and pardon me, my dear cousin;—but if women are allowed to stray at will from under their husbands’ mulberry roofs, what is to prevent them from becoming butterflies?”
Sing Foon’ s declarations concerning his discomposure with Mrs. Spring Fragrance’s accompaniment of Tsen Hing represent the Chinese Orthodox outlook of women. His declaration suggests that Mr. Spring should not license his wife to be on her own with other men because she could engross in illegitimate affairs with them. The letter attacks Mrs. Spring’s integrity, yet she has not displayed any indications of intending to cheat on her spouse who she is immeasurably in committed to.
“They met at the time of the boycott of the Sam Yups by the See Yups. After the heat and dust and unsavoriness of the highways and byways of Chinatown, the young reporter who had been sent to find a story, had stepped across the threshold of a cool, deep room, fragrant with the odor of dried lilies and sandalwood, and found Pan.”
This historical allusion is noteworthy because it demarcates the inauguration of Pan’s consciousness vis-à-vis her biracial standing. The boycotts fuel Pan and Marks meeting after which Marks endeavors to program her so that she can elect her white heritage over the Chinese heritage. Mark is the unconditional incitement of Pan’s predicament.
“All this Mark Carson's clear eyes perceived, and with delicate tact and subtlety he taught the young girl that, all unconscious until his coming, she had lived her life alone. So well did she learn this lesson that it seemed at times as if her white self must entirely dominate and trample under foot her Chinese”
Mark Carson’s object is to manipulate Pan psychologically so that she can be cognizant of the subservience of the Chinese. He appreciates that if he succeeds to brainwash her, it would be possible to compile an anecdote regarding the seeming subservience of the Chinese.
