Thousand Pieces of Gold

Gold is a recurring motif that highlights the theme of The Burden and Pain of Family Betrayal. Polly’s childhood nickname in China was qianjin, which roughly translates to 1,000 pieces of gold. She holds onto this nickname, and it buoys her through some of her darkest moments during her journey to the US. Because her family nicknamed her gold, she sees any mention of gold as a positive sign:

Hugging herself inwardly, she had pictured her parents’ and brothers’ faces when she gave her father the gold that would make him the richest man in the village. The pride they would have in her, their qianjin. And she had held fast to this picture, as to a talisman. First, when the Madam had turned her over to Li Ma, the crotchety, foulmouthed woman who would take her to the Gold Mountains. Then, during the long voyage, when only the men’s talk of gold had kept alive her dream of going home (61).

Even when it is clear that the “golden” America she was told about before coming to the country doesn’t exist, she still relies on gold as a source of hope. While sweeping Hong King’s saloon, she gathers gold nuggets and dust that she finds left by the customers in the hopes that she can use the gold to buy her freedom.