Themes
Last Updated on June 19, 2019, by eNotes Editorial. Word Count: 180
One of the major themes of Wild Swans: Three Daughter of China by Jung Chang is the political unrest from the the end of the nineteenth century through the late 1970s, when Chang moved to England. China’s politics affected the lives of the generations preceding Chang’s. Chang’s grandmother was offered as a concubine to a wealthy general in order to improve her station in life. Chang’s father was a communist leader, and her mother was also in the communist party. Because of their different ranks, her father was treated better than her mother, and the physical pain her mother endured resulted in a miscarriage. Chang herself, although she valued education, briefly joined the Communist Party but was turned off of it when her parents were arrested and sent to labor camps.
Additional themes of the book include loyalty and love. Each member of Chang’s family is concerned with loyalty to one another and the Communist Party. Love sometimes causes them to do questionable things, and it also makes them question their political beliefs and ideals.
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