94 pages • 3 hours read
Adeline Yen MahFalling Leaves
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 1997A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 25-28Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 25 Summary: “Yi Dao Liang Duan (Sever This Kinship with One Whack of the Knife)”
After the death of Adeline’s father, the family gathers in Hong Kong for the funeral, then congregates once again for the reading of his will. This moment is a return to the opening scene of the prologue wherein Niang proclaims that there is nothing for her children to inherit. The siblings learn that Niang has transferred all of their father’s money into her own account and seized all of his international assets.
That night, Lydia and Adeline engage in a heated argument at the hotel. In the argument, Lydia accuses Adeline of helping her son more than her daughter “because he’s young and handsome” (238). Enraged, Adeline vows to “sever this kinship with one whack of the knife” (238).
Chapter 26 Summary: “Wu Feng Qi Lang (Creating Waves Without Wind)”
Tai-way and Tai-ling stay in touch with Adeline despite her parting ways with their mother. In 1989, Tai-ling invites Adeline to her wedding in St. Paul, Minnesota. The wedding is filled with strange back-and-forth communication with Lydia—who still claims Tai-ling feels slighted for not receiving as much financial support as Tai-way—and Tai-way—who tells Adeline that Niang disapproved of Adeline coming to the wedding. Adeline is confused by Tai-way’s words and perceives them as a red flag.
At the pre-wedding luncheon, Adeline asks Lydia if it’s true that Niang ordered that she not be invited to the wedding. Lydia admits that Tai-way’s words were true and says she will explain the situation at dinner. Adeline returns to the hotel and receives a phone call from Tai-way, who tells her dinner is canceled and his parents do not want to speak to her. When Adeline asks if he has anything to say for himself, he replies, “‘I’ve no right to say anything to you […] I do have to tell you that I will not be visiting you in California’” (243).
Confused and hurt, Adeline calls James, who predictably tells her, “‘Don’t create waves without wind […] Let sleeping dogs lie’” (243).
Chapter 27 Summary: “Jin Zhu Zhe Chi, Jin Mo Zhe Hei (Near Vermilion, One Gets Stained Red; Near Ink, One Gets Stained Black)”
After the historic demonstrations in Tianamen Square, Hong Kong goes through its own political upheavals and demonstrations. Secretly, James makes plans for his family move to Canada, even purchasing a house in Toronto.
Adeline calls Niang and one of her servants answers, directing her to the hospital where Niang is being treated for a serious illness. Worried for Niang’s well-being, Adeline asks if James is there to take care of her, and Niang replies that he’s on vacation in Toronto. Adeline pleads with Niang to let her look after her, but Niang insists that she’s fine.
Adeline calls James and asks about Niang’s tone during their conversation, mentioning that Niang was cold toward her. James attributes her cold demeanor to her illness. A week later, Adeline phones James in Hong Kong and learns Niang has cancer. They engage in a strange, tersely worded conversation wherein James serves as a go-between for Niang. When Adeline asks, “‘Why doesn’t she want me to be with her?’” James stiffly replies, “‘You’ll be hearing from me by fax’” (247) and hangs up.
Over the next few months, Niang seems to warm up to Adeline, calling and discussing her hopes of moving to the US. Eventually, she asks Adeline to come and take her to the US so she can recover in Adeline’s home. When Adeline consults with Niang’s doctor, she learns that Niang is not fit to travel. When Adeline confers with James over the phone, he tells her that Niang has taken a turn for the worse and no longer even recognizes him.
Niang passes away, and James is named the executor of her will, which contains over 30 million dollars of money and assets.
Chapter 28 Summary: “Jiu You Peng You (Wine and Meat Friends)”
Few people attend Niang’s funeral. The family financial advisor, Mr. Lu, reflects that Niang only had “jiu rou peng you (wine and meat friends)” (254) whose companionship didn’t extend beyond social events. Mr. Lu gently insinuates that Adeline has been disinherited for mysterious reasons, and when Adeline protests that Niang had asked to join her in the US, Mr. Lu explains that the US government would’ve imposed death duties on her estate if she’d died in America. With her request, Niang was simply attempting to stir antipathy for Adeline among her siblings.
When Adeline goes to speak with James, it is obvious that he has known about her disinheritance for some time. She feels betrayed and recalls an incident from her childhood wherein her three brothers tricked her into drinking a glass of orange juice filled with their urine. At the time, she was not so much troubled by “Edgar’s malice or Gregory’s treachery, but James’s betrayal” (257).
Adeline refuses to attend the reading of Niang’s will but asks that James meet with her afterward and bring a copy of the will with him. He meets with her and explains, “‘Gregory and Edgar get 20 percent. I get 50 percent. Lydia gets 10 percent. You get nothing’” (259). James weakly offers to give Adeline Niang’s flat and reminds her that if she goes to court, only the solicitors will win. He closes the conversation by saying, “I still have to come back here and pick up Lydia. She wanted to telephone her children and tell them the good news” (259). He also tells Adeline that the family is going to Niang’s flat tomorrow to divide up her belongings.
Chapters 25-28 Analysis
Chapters 25-28 show the family devolving due to petty rivalries, secrets, and resentments. Faced with Lydia’s and James’s betrayals, Adeline recognizes that they are playing out the roles they’ve carried over from childhood (and which Niang has preserved from childhood, even in death). These roles are evidenced by a flashback to a childhood incident wherein Gregory, Edgar, and James collectively trick Adeline into drinking urine-tainted orange juice. She was not so much troubled by “Edgar’s malice or Gregory’s treachery, but James’s betrayal” (257). This flashback solidifies Adeline’s perception of her siblings.
Thus, Adeline establishes that her distress over the will—and the disinheritance—has little to do with money. Rather, she is distraught over the idea that she does not belong within the Yen family, that she has never belonged.
