Falling Leaves

Adeline briefly ventures into a relationship with a fellow Chinese student named H. H. Tien. H. H. is chivalrous and idealistic, espousing his confidence in Chairman Mao, proclaiming, “‘China has finally stood up!’” (136). When Adeline receives an impassioned letter from Karl, however—wherein he warns, “Do not be seduced by rhetoric” and tenderly calls her “[m]y femme fatale!” (137)—she immediately breaks off her relationship with H. H.

Adeline illuminates the ways in which the Cultural Revolution greatly contradicts the expectations of her idealistic friends from the Chinese Students Union. Many of her former classmates are persecuted upon their return to China. H. H. is imprisoned and his jailers “refuse to believe that such an accomplished and highly educated young scientist would renounce his rich family in Hong Kong […] and his promising career in order to serve his country” (139). When urged to confess his “true motive” for coming to China, H. H. commits suicide.

As Adeline graduates and completes a prestigious internship, Karl follows her throughout England, both literally and metaphorically. Adeline recalls a particularly harrowing incident wherein, while she is on a date in the cinema with another boy, Karl reaches out from behind her and caresses her hand. To free herself from their emotional codependence, she leaves for Hong Kong in 1963.

Though Adeline is offered a prestigious position as an assistant lecturer at Hong Kong University Medical School, her father insists that she take a low-paying internship in the hospital with his acquaintance, Professor Chun. Though the internship is a step down for Adeline, she accepts it, not wanting her father to “lose face” (145). She expresses her great desire to please her father: “To gain his acceptance. To be loved” (145). Niang immediately escorts Adeline to the hospital and insists that she live there in the on-call room.

Adeline’s work at the hospital is physically exhausting but not mentally stimulating. She must also navigate an environment of blatant sexual discrimination and suspicion of her English degree. Adeline’s coworkers also dislike her because she does not speak Cantonese. Her English is considered “unintelligible and irritating” (149).

Every Sunday night, Adeline is expected to attend family dinners at her father and Niang’s home. During these dinners, she feels immense frustration as she listens to Niang’s bigoted and hypocritical views (such as her negative perspective on interracial marriage), knowing she cannot speak out against them. Thus, Adeline feels like a “fish swimming in a cauldron” (150), needing to escape this environment before it consumes her.

After Adeline spends seven months at her internship, a Chinese American medical student (an exchange scholar from New York University) named Martin arrives. Martin bonds with Adeline over their shared sense of displacement. He tells Adeline that his parents run an international boardinghouse in New York City and invites Adeline to come to the US with him, offering to help her find a job.

After she finds a position with a hospital in Philadelphia, Adeline informs her parents of her plans to leave. They are cold toward her and do not offer to help her pay for her plane ticket. Thus, Adeline writes to the hospital to ask if she can have the ticket deducted from her salary. The secretary is warm and friendly toward her, not only approving her request, but including a handwritten note that reads, “I was touched by your letter. I just want you to know that our home will always be open to you should you need help when you come to Philadelphia” (156).

Just before Adeline leaves for the US, her father bids her goodbye, saying she is now engaged in combat with life on her own, armed with “one horse, single spear” (156).