Under a Painted Sky

The Chinese Zodiac is the most commonly repeated motif in the novel. It is the lens through which Samantha understands her own behavior and that of other characters. The system is based on the Chinese calendar year and connected to animals rather than constellations. In addition to explaining or predicting behavior, Samantha uses zodiac signs to predict the success of friendships and romantic relationships. This motif hence underpins the structure of the novel itself, which follows the arc of these relationships.

From the start of the novel, Samantha identifies herself through the use of a metaphor, calling herself a “Snake.” While each animal has strengths and weaknesses, for much of the novel, Samantha only focuses on her weaknesses and how she can overcome them. This includes “crying easily and needing to have the last word” (7). It also explains to her why horses do not like her. Annamae, when told that she is a Dragon, prefers to concentrate on the strengths instead, telling Samantha, “Move on to the good stuff,” after hearing only a few negative qualities of her animal sign (70). West is not thrilled to hear that he is a Rabbit, which he sees as a feminine animal. However, for Samantha that is good news because “Chinese people believe Rabbits and Snakes make for a propitious union” (155). Lee constructs key elements of characterization through this motif.

The zodiac is also connected to fate, another important and complex concept in Chinese culture. For example, certain years, like Samantha’s own Year of the Snake, typically bring luck to those born under that sign. Samantha does note that, unlike most Snakes, she is lacking in luck. Within the Chinese Zodiac is Ba-Zi or “The Four Pillars of Destiny,” a concept that an individual’s fate can be divined or discovered through a reading based on zodiacal concepts. Fate is often personified in the novel and is usually seen by Samantha to be capricious and cruel, something that she can either resist or succumb to, like death. Lee portrays a fatalistic attitude within Chinese culture, that is, the idea that one’s path and opportunities have already been decided, leaving individuals with no control over their predestined futures. Samantha opines, “Why should fate always have the upper hand?” (352), and she realizes that she “cannot fight fate” (353), surrendering herself shortly after this realization: “You may have me now, Fate. I am ready” (356). Yet she also pronounces, “Well, Fate, I reject you” (353). She decides that she will make her own luck rather than be held hostage to fate. This motif therefore contributes to a sense of Samantha’s character development.

Belief in fate is seen as unchristian by Annamae, who believes that God is the sole master of the universe. She tells Samantha early in their journey that “God is benevolent, and it ain’t Christian to believe in fate, because He’s in charge of the stars, too” (35). Yet even Annamae hopes that a particular kind of fate, yuanfen or “fateful coincidence,” is true: that certain people are meant to meet and even become as close as family. To her, it is more akin to superstitions, like ghosts: “I don’t believe in ‘em. But you’ll never see me stepping on no one’s gravestone” (87). For Samantha, yuanfen is real, and she hopes that hers is strong enough with her mother’s bracelet to reunite them. Her desire to find Mr. Trask and her mother’s bracelet structures the primary arc of the novel, meaning that this motif underpins the reader’s sense of where the novel is moving. For Samantha, it is yuanfen that brings the cowboys to the waterfall and reunites the cowboy family.