Falling Leaves

Falling Leaves details the racial discrimination Adeline experiences in the many locations she resides throughout the world. In the international port cities of Shanghai and Tianjin, she observes that everything Western is considered superior to everything Eastern. Her father’s marriage to Niang solidifies this perspective. Niang’s French heritage is a point of pride (imbues her with the authority to rule over her family). Furthermore, the Yen family home is divided into a racially charged hierarchical caste system wherein Niang and her blood-kin live on the stately first floor, while Ye Ye, Aunt Baba, Gregory, Edgar, James, and Adeline are relegated to the second floor.

In England and America, Adeline experiences a different kind of racism as an ethnic minority. She is often spoken to in a patronizing manner, or touted as a token, a representative of her race. In England especially, she feels lonely and adrift, and seeks comfort in those who share her cultural experiences. She finds some degree of kinship in the Chinese Student Union, but even this kinship is politically complicated by the rising tide of Maoism (and Maoist nationalist sentiment) among young Chinese students.

With stories of foot-binding, arranged marriages, and female desires being sublimated for “the common good of the family” (23), Falling Leaves explores the complex expectations for women in Chinese culture. Though the women in Adeline’s family are resilient and wise, Chinese culture still obliges them to define themselves in terms of traditional roles.

Adeline encounters sexual discrimination in both her familial and romantic relationships, carrying her familial roles and expectations for behavior into adulthood. When Adeline studies in England, she develops a troubled romantic relationship with her superior, Karl. In many ways, this relationship resembles Adeline’s familial dynamics; Karl exerts emotional dominance and heavy-handed guidance over Adeline’s life. When Adeline moves to America, she marries a Chines man named Byron who has very traditional ideas of how Chinese wives are supposed to behave. His belief, “marry a dog, follow a dog” (161), suggests that a wife must follow her husband no matter what he says or does. Byron reacts violently whenever Adeline contradicts him, threatening her and her child. As Adeline’s Chinese nanny and neighbors, Mrs. Hsu, explains:

‘There are lots of men like your husband in China […] In the old days, men routinely mistreated their wives. Now he’s doing the same to you. The more you put up with it, the more savage he will be. If you have no other rice to eat, then you must swallow this bitterness. But, in your case, you have your profession’ (169).

Excelling in her career as an anesthesiologist, Adeline is luckily able to persevere through these troubled relationships. Of course, she encounters rampant institutional sexism in her profession as well, which often carries over into relationships. As her colleague Alcenith explains, “women doctors gave unhappy marriages because in our minds we are the superstars of our families. Having survived the hardship of medical school, we expect to reap our rewards at home. We had to assert ourselves against all odds […] It takes a special man to be able to cope” (207).