Under a Painted Sky

“Whoever was responsible, may he pay for it in a thousand ways, go blind in both eyes, deaf in both ears. Better yet, may he perish in hell.”

Even before finding out for sure that the fire was not an accident but set by the landlord Ty Yorkshire for the insurance money, Samantha is certain that the blaze had not been set by her father. Her thoughts portray several elements of her identity (Chinese and American Christian), as it combines language and imagery found in both. Her identity is explored throughout the novel.

“You always said, Have patience in one moment of anger, and you will avoid one hundred days of sorrow.”

This is one of many times during which Samantha speaks to her deceased father and remembers his wise sayings. Chinese culture, like many others, uses proverbs and sayings to express and teach its values. Samantha’s argument with her father led her to come home late from violin lessons, well after the fire had caused his death. This causes her many moments of guilt and regret. This quotation provides foreshadowing, because her moment of anger in striking out at Yorkshire causes his death, resulting in Samantha becoming a fugitive from the law.

“A child born in the Year of the Snake was lucky. But every so often, a Snake was born unlucky.”

Chinese astrology and fate are key motifs in the novel that Samantha uses to make sense of her life. She analyzes the behavior and personality of her friends through their astrological signs and the character traits associated with them. She often attributes her actions, especially those that she regrets, to her Snake weaknesses. Also implied in this quote is the concept of fate or things destined to happen, which is different from Providence, which suggests the hand of God in events. Lee uses Samantha’s beliefs to establish her characterization and contrast her with the devoutly Christian Annamae.

“I pressed my violin case into my gut and stared at the river. The shimmering surface beckoned to me. I could be with Father, instead of this unjust world, which never threw us more than a cold glance. With the strong undertow, death would be quick.”

Samantha imagines death by drowning in several places in the novel. The first is when she is in the bathtub at the hotel after her father has died, which the perceptive Annamae notices. Fire and water are two elements in Wuxing or Chinese philosophy. Gold, which the Argonauts are seeking, is a third.

“Like the Greek heroes who quested after the golden fleece, these ‘Argonauts’ seek gold, following the Oregon Trail until it diverges south of California.”

“Argonauts” was a nickname applied to the men who went west to California in search of gold. Argonauts were the followers of Jason, who searched for the Golden Fleece in classical mythology. Another nickname was “49ers,” chosen after the year the gold rush happened. Samantha’s common use of the term to describe herself and others reflects her classical education.

“I drop the matter, for I don’t want her to think that I’m a heathen. Though Father’s knowledge of Chinese beliefs was limited – he was brought to the states when he was only thirteen – he was just as adamant about passing them on to me as his Christian ideology, which he got from Pépère, my French grandfather. If they were important to Father, they were important to me, too, despite their inconsistencies.”

Andy and her brother have devout Christian beliefs, whereas Samantha’s are blended with and complicated by the “Chinese ideology” taught to her by her father. These include using Chinese zodiac signs to explain behavior and reading events as a result of fate (rather than divine Providence or hand of God). The inconsistencies that she experiences are part of her character arc: she is coming to terms with the different parts of her own identity (Chinese and American) throughout the novel.

“Free states don’t make you free.”

This is spoken by Andy in response to Samantha asking her why she and her brother Isaac had gone west and not to a free state instead. Even before the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850 codified it into law, enslaved people who escaped to free states could still be captured and returned to their enslavers. As Samantha is from New York City, she is not knowledgeable about the realities of slavery. Her question provides an opportunity for Lee to pass this knowledge on to the reader too.

“I resist the urge to scoot closer to Andy. She’s looking straight up at a rift in the clouds where a red moon has appeared, a bullet wound in the dark skin of night. Father said the moon changes color when bad luck is near.”

Although they are from different cultures, both Andy and Samantha’s father realize that a red moon portends bad luck. The quote itself states that the appearance of the moon is a sign of something negative to come. This quotation provides foreshadowing because bullet wounds have important roles later in the story.

“‘There’s a Chinese principle called yuanfen, which means your fate with someone else,’ I say. ‘Two people with strong yuanfen have a greater chance of meeting in their lifetimes, and can become as close as family.’”

Chinese principles and values along with her Christian beliefs guide Samantha’s behavior and understanding of the world and are her legacy from her father. Fate is an important Chinese principle, and Yuanfen is a particular kind of fate, one that governs relationships. The concept underpins the structure of the plot because it can connect people to objects (like her mother’s bracelet) or to each other, like her familial relationship to the cowboys.

“My showmanship only comes out when I hold the violin – with Lady Tin-Yin in my arms, I don’t care who watches. A peace comes over me, something I call my violin calm. I become someone else.”

Samantha’s violin is an extension of her personality. She personifies the instrument, referring to it as her best friend in several places in the novel. Named by her father, Lady Tin-Yin (or Violin from Heaven) is the most precious thing, aside from her mother’s bracelet, that she owns, and is a physical connection to her past life. When she loses the violin in the river all her connections to her past are severed.

“Yolk doesn’t blend with white. ‘A single drop of yolk can ruin a meringue,’ the headmistress of a music conservatory in New York told Father when she denied me admittance. Still, I can’t help wondering how it would feel to walk a little closer to West so that our shadows touched. Chinese people believe Rabbits and Snakes make for a propitious union, since the word for happiness, fu, looks like the two animals intertwined.”

This racist saying haunts Samantha whenever she thinks about her growing feelings for the cowboy West. While white society represented by the headmistress sees a Chinese person as ruining the conservatory, Chinese culture uses horoscopes to determine if two people are compatible. Some Chinese characters are pictographic (where pictures symbolize words or phrases) and some are ideographic (where a character represents an idea rather than a sound).

“‘She’s not wild, she’s spirited. ‘Wild’ means I no care about what I do, but ‘spirited’ means, ‘I love what I do.’ Big difference.’”

Peety, the Mexican cowboy, speaks these words about his horse, Princesa, who was rejected by her original owner who was unable to tame her. The quotation has a double meaning. He is also speaking about Andy and Sammy. This attitude can be seen in Andy’s fierce love of freedom, and Sammy’s equally strong love of music.

“This one time, he cuffed me for painting the fence too slow. Blood got into the paint and turned it pink. No matter how much I tried mixing in more white, it still looked pink to me. I finished the fence, but I knew it was no good, even though people couldn’t see it. There were certain things about me I could never change, no matter how I tried.”

West reveals to Samantha the abuse he suffered as a child from his own father. West is an artistic child, exhibiting qualities that marked him as different and inferior to others, just like the paint with blood in it was “no good.” It is also reminiscent of the yolk and meringue story told to Samantha by the headmistress. Finally, it plays into the questions about West’s sexual orientation that Lee makes ambiguous throughout the novel.

“The violin’s strap is tangled around my neck, so sink with her I must. As the river’s icy fingers drag me down, I almost laugh as I realize I’m managing to drown myself after all.”

Here, it is the river rather than the violin that is given human characteristics. While the violin is one of Samantha’s only connections to her past, here it is seen literally to be dragging her down. Her desire to laugh while drowning is an example of “gallows humor” or a grim or ironic humor in a desperate situation and harkens back to her earlier desire to drown herself in the bathtub; Lee’s foreshadowing comes to fruition.

“Lady Tin-Yin. You were my first friend. When none would pick me for their rounders team, you kept me company, giving me a voice that made people laugh and cry. I’m sorry we won’t be opening that music conservatory together after all.”

Samantha takes a quiet moment to say goodbye to her beloved violin that was lost in the river when she almost drowned. Speaking directly to the personified Lady Tin-Yin, Samantha mourns the loss of her friend since it is a symbol of her heritage and identity. Rounders is a bat and ball game from England, and one of the games (along with cricket) from which modern-day baseball developed.

“Father, fate has dropped another stone in the stream, forcing new choices, new paths to follow.”

At moments throughout her journey, Samantha speaks directly to her father, keeping alive this connection for her and for the reader. Fate, while not capitalized here, is personified, and seen as responsible for providing new opportunities which “force” her to make new choices. This quote follows the story of the rabbit and the snake, which causes Samantha to question her goal of finding her mother’s bracelet rather than staying with Andy. There are also echoes of a Chinese proverb “crossing the river by touching the stones” which means pausing to make deliberate choices. This reflects what Samantha is doing here.

“‘I can make my own choices. And I choose to stay with you.”

Maybe what matters is not so much the path as who walks beside you.’”

This novel has elements of the quest narrative: Samantha has a goal of catching up with her father’s friend and retrieving her mother’s bracelet. It also has strong elements of the journey narrative which means that the trip is more important than the destination. The physical journey along “the path” symbolizes the emotional journey that Samantha makes from her past to the independent young woman who makes her own decisions and realizes the importance of friendship.

“‘Your head’s like a room and when you’s forced to stay in it, you gotta deal with all the trash that’s left in there.

Andy reminds me of you, Father, and your infinite wisdom.”

Like Peety, Andy’s variation of English is connected to her African American identity. Both are insightful characters, and here Andy’s folk wisdom is compared directly to the “infinite wisdom” of Andy’s father. Andy reminds Samantha that everyone has hurts from the past that they must deal with, otherwise they will clutter up your mind.

“Maybe he knew all along and never said anything because kissing a Chinese girl would be as indecent as kissing a boy. I can’t help remembering the story West told about painting the fence.”

West is gravely wounded rescuing Sammy from the stampeding herd, and she nurses him back to health, including through “broth kisses” which she uses to get him to ingest the liquid. Now recovering, he physically recoils from her. She is unsure if this is because he thinks she is a boy, or because she is Chinese. Lee explores prejudices relating to sexuality throughout the novel by leaving West’s sexuality ambiguous.

“Sometimes I think she is gone from this world. If it’s true, that means she’s a star now, because that’s what happens to the innocents. That is why you cannot shoot the stars.”

Peety is explaining what happened to his sister Esme, who was kidnapped to be sold by “salvajes” (savages) when she was only five years old. Andy and Sammy had wondered if Esme (which means to love in French, or emeralds from Esmerelda in Spanish) was Peety’s sweetheart. The last line sounds like a proverb, a form of communication used by several characters in the novel.

“Father always made me feel proud to be Chinese, that ancient race who roamed among dragons, who exploded gunpowder into the air to make flowers of fire. We might be a rare breed in this country, but I never wished to be white. Then again, I was also never a slave.”

Samantha thinks this in response to the religious Andy admitting that she cursed God for enslaving her after the death of her little brother. Samantha realizes that while, she experiences racism in the United States, she has been able to maintain a material connection to her heritage and experiences racism in a different way to the African American characters.

“Why should fate always have the upper hand? Passing out luck, like mooncakes in autumn, then snatching them right out of your mouth. Well, Fate, I reject you, from your gleaming jaw to your pale underbelly.”

Fate is again personified in this quote—doubly so in the second sentence with the capitalization of the word like a proper name. Capricious and cruel, Fate teases with good things like luck or mooncakes. In the last sentence, Fate is described as snakelike, which alludes to Christian ideology in which a snake is evil or untrustworthy. Samantha was born in the Year of the Snake, yet she was deprived by Fate of the luck that typically belongs to that zodiac sign. As part of her coming-of-age, she is taking back her power from Fate.

“Maybe hell is not fire and brimstone, but a place of loneliness.”

Samantha undergoes several near-death experiences and dreams in this novel when she exists in a limbo state, in between life and death. These experiences often involve water which contrasts with the “fire” of hell here. As she drowns in the waterfall, she is visited by her father who says that he is proud of her and leaves. The loneliness that she feels is the worst punishment imaginable, in her mind, even worse than the “fire and brimstone” of the Christian hell.