64 pages • 2 hours read
Gail TsukiyamaA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Summary
Autumn: September 15, 1937-Autumn: September 29, 1937
Autumn: October 5, 1937-Autumn: October 29, 1937
Autumn: October 30, 1937-Autumn: November 30, 1937
Autumn: December 1, 1937-Winter: December 7, 1937
Winter: December 21, 1937-Winter: February 4, 1938
Winter: February 5, 1938- Winter: March 14, 1938
Spring: March 28, 1938-Spring: May 30, 1938
Summer: June 6, 1938-Summer: July 5, 1938
Summer: July 9, 1938-Summer: August 16, 1938
Summer: August 17, 1938-Autumn: September 23, 1938
Autumn: September 28, 1938-Autumn: October 19
Autumn: October 20, 1938-Autumn: October 26, 1938
Autumn: October 27, 1938-Autumn: October 29, 1938
Character Analysis
Themes
Symbols & Motifs
Important Quotes
Essay Topics
For two weeks, Stephen has avoided thinking of his parents. A letter arrives from his mother.
She says that Stephen’s father has told her the same thing Stephen wrote about helping a friend in business and that she must accept this explanation, having married Stephen’s father when she was only fifteen and having no way to make a living on her own now, at forty. She also accepts that she and Stephen’s father may need to share family and finances but live separate lives. She notes that she had hoped to join Stephen in Tarumi for the holidays but will stay in Hong Kong because of her health. She suggests that he go to Kobe and expresses concern about his recovery.
Stephen remembers his younger years, before Pie was born and business took his father to Japan more and more often, when his parents were close and the family spent happy evenings together in Hong Kong. He feels the family’s changes and his own changes acutely. He wires his father to tell him that he will stay in Tarumi for the holidays.